Daikon

[Schielke]

I have a particularly good specimen of daikon sitting in my fridge right now. I would estimate the size at 12-13 inches and 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

I would hate to let this lovely piece of vegetation go to waste. I rarely cook or do anything with daikon since can never use it all in a reasonable amount of time.

I would appreciate any and all suggestions for dishes that use or highlight daikon.

Thanks a bunch!

Ben

[torakris]

Daikon is usaully divided into 3 parts for cooking.

The bottom third is usually the spiciest (most radish like in flavor) and is best in soups and stir fries.

the middle portion is the best for simmered dishes and if it is sweet it is great in salads.

the upper third (closest to the leaves) is the sweetest and is most often used in dishes that call for grated daikon.

some really simple recipes:

cut the bottom part into thin half moon shapes and throw into some miso soup

take a bite and if it sweet julienne it and make a daikon salad or throw some into a regular salad

My favorite recipe for grated daikon (I make this a lot!)

Japanese spinach salad (sorry, I am not very creative with names)

Boil until tender

1 bunch of spinach

rinse under cold water, drain sqeezing out excess water, and season with

a sprinkling of mirin, soy sauce, and dashi (if you don't have the mirin or dashi don't worry about it.)

remove the seeds (and skin if you like), then dice

1 tomato

grate enough daikon to equal 1 cup (about 1/3 to 1/2 a daikon)

this should be a very fine grating, similar to grated ginger

drain off the excess liquid, I place it into a cheesecloth and wring it out gently.

In a bowl stir together

3 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

stir until dissolved, then add the chopped tomato and grated daikon and mix gently.

Place the spinach into a shallow bowl or a dish with sloping sides and place the daikon, tomato mixture on top.

Serve.

I will be back with some other recipes later today.

[Jinmyo]

I use a Benriner green machine to turn daikon into noodles. I'll use both white and green daikon, toss with a ngoc mam, galangal, and lemongrass dressing with fresh coriander and grilled shrimp.

I cube it and sear and glaze it with chile sauce for a topping for ruice.

I cut it into sections about an inch thick, roast it, smear with a miso sauce.

etc.

[Schielke]

Cool, thanks for the tips! I will let you know what I ended up doing with it.

Ben

[tissue]

If you have a fresh fish head, you can make fish head soup with it. Slice the daikon thinly into strips or half moons. Add some julienned ginger, salt, and small cubes of tofu.

[Schielke]

I think that I would get in trouble with my woman trying to cook something that had fish head as a main ingredient.

It does sound like fun though!

Ben

[Hiroyuki]

I noticed that there is hardly any mention of kiriboshi daikon (shredded and dried daikon) in the Japan Forum. Isn't there anyone here who likes this foodstuff? I think I'll post a picture of simmered kiriboshi daikon when my wife makes it. (She bought a pack of kiroboshi daikon yesterday.)

For those who have no idea of what kiriboshi daikon is, here are links to two related webpages:

http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~chrkaji/yasuko/recipe/024_e.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikon

[torakris]

I love kiriboshi daikon, actually just a couple days ago I printed out this recipe:

http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~chrkaji/yasuko/recipe/050_e.html

from the same site!

My favorite use for kiriboshi daikon isn't Japanese, I love to make a kind of kimchi with it.

[helenjp]

Since I discovered that using dried persimmons in namasu is a Tohoku thing, I've been planning on making some....just had to wait a while for my family to forget that I ever mentioned such a combination.

Finally perpetrated the deed, after I found a recipe on the Internet which was more salad than namasu. gotcha

The base ingredients included mitsuba as well as the shredded daikon and dried persimmon - and that turned out to be a very nice trio.

The dressing included ground sesame and a dash of sesame oil as well as the sweetened vinegar mix used for namasu.

One problem remains...I rarely made sunomono in the past, because we had a live-in relative who went into coughing fits over sharp or hot flavors, so my kids aren't used to the "bite" of even the mildest raw daikon. Husband and I didn't think the namasu was even mildly peppery...but our kids, who will eat quite spicy food, protested.

Any ideas for taming raw daikon without actually murdering it???

[torakris]

I once did a namasu style dish with daikon and dried apricots, I didn't care for it at all....

This one sounds good though..

[Hiroyuki]

Any ideas for taming raw daikon without actually murdering it???

←

This webpage http://www.pixino.com/diary/zarikopapa/200405/16.html says that salted kelp eliminates the sharpness of daikon like a charm. (Photo 2)

Original:

この塩昆布が秘訣で、大根の辛味を見事に消してくれる。(Photo2)。

And, how about using only the upper portion of a daikon?

According to this page http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2001q4/20011219.html of the TV show, Tameshite Gatten, the amount of the sharp component in the lower portion of a daikon is about ten times larger than that in the upper portion.

My father is a huge fan of nezumi daikon, which have a very sharp taste. He uses them to make 'oshibori udon'. I'll post some information about the udon to the Nagano thread later.

[torakris]

this is the general rule I have usually followed when using daikon

上・・・・サラダ

中・・・おでん、ふろふき、ぶり大根など

下・・・おろし大根（薬味として）　おろしは、皮ままするとよいです。

top part.....salads

middle..... simmered dishes

bottom..... grating

the bottom is the spiciest

[torakris]

kiriboshi daikon preapred with Korean like seasonings....

after rehydrating and washing well, I seasoned it with kochujang, sugar, mirin and soy sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil

[torakris]

another wonderful use for daikon!

salad style but this time piled onto a donburi

I mixed the daikon slices with kaiware (daikon sprouts) and topped them with what was in the house. The dressing was equal amounts of soy sauce, rice vinegar and mirin with a dollop of yuzukoshou for a kick.

[helenjp]

salted kelp eliminates the sharpness of daikon like a charm

I'm sure you're right! I remember now that a friend used to make a daikon salad with shreds of ham and green shiso, dressed with mayonnaise and lemon juice. The daikon is shredded and salted very lightly, then squeezed. I think it's better with a lemon vinaigrette, but it's a nice, easy salad!

[Hiroyuki]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I got eight shougoin (聖護院) daikon from a neighbor. These are the last ones.

I googled yesterday and learned that this variety was suitable for simmering. I found this recipe, and made this dish today.

First you have to simmer them to remove aku, with "togi jiru" (milky water resulting from washing rice) or a handful of rice. I used the latter.

Then transfer them to another pot and simmer again, with a 8:1:1 mixture of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin, and add aburaage.

Results:

Right: Simmered dish

Left: Rice used to remove aku

Shougoin is one of the vegetables called kyou yasai (京野菜), mainly grown and used in Kyoto.

The dish was so good that I had two bowls.

[torakris]

Is there a major abundance of daikon this year?!?

I have been given 3 just in the past week, a neighbor was just leaving them in front of people's doors because she was given a box by a relative after being given 2 boxes by the same relative last week. Even one of my local supermarkets has them on sale for 50 yen a piece today.

I am actually sick of daikon and would be happy if I never saw another one this winter, but Hiroyuki that dish does look good!

[ojisan]

Does daikon have any nutritional value?

[torakris]

Does daikon have any nutritional value?

←

According to Wikipedia:

Daikon is very low in food energy. A 3 ounce (85 g) serving contains only 18 calories (75 kJ) and provides 34 percent of the RDA for vitamin C. Rich in vitamin C, daikon contains active enzymes that aid digestion, particularly of starchy foods.

[Milagai]

Hi: if you'll forgive my butting into your thread,

send me your extra daikons, or make mooli paratha

(parathas=stuffed flatbread; mooli=daikon radish in many south asian languages).

here's one recipe:

http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspa...oliparatha.html

Milagai

[torakris]

Hi:  if you'll forgive my butting into your thread,

send me your extra daikons, or make mooli paratha

(parathas=stuffed flatbread;  mooli=daikon radish in many south asian languages).

here's one recipe:

http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspa...oliparatha.html

Milagai

←

Please butt in at any time!

Especially if you willbe posting recipes that look as good as you just did.

After a while I tend to get into a daikon rut as I have always found myself cooking it in Japanese or Korean styles. I am going to try the one you posted. I also have a nice chunk of lamb in the freezer that screaming to be made into an nice Indian curry.

[Robinjw13]

Just a little more on the nutritional value of daikon. The leaves are much more nutritious than the root:

100g root contains:

230 mg potassium

24 mg calcium

10 mg magnesium

18 mg phosphorus

12 mg vitamin C

34 µg folic acid

100g leaves contain:

400 mg potassium

260 mg calcium

3900 µg beta-carotene

330 µg retinol

53 mg vitamin C

270 µg vitamin K

140 µg folic acid

The root contains diastase, an enzyme that helps digestion and stimulates appetite.

The above breakdown is from the Food Composition Database at: http://food.tokyo.jst.go.jp/

- in Japanese!

[Milagai]

Thanks Torakris: I love daikon too, and don't know

too many ways to make it, and have been

getting interesting ideas from this thread...

Great nutrition info...

thanks

Milagai

[Hiroyuki]

Just a little more on the nutritional value of daikon. The leaves are much more nutritious than the root:

←

I know. My mother used to say so, and that's why it's so silly to throw away the leaves.

Our recent dishes from another thread:

The root contains diastase, an enzyme that helps digestion and stimulates appetite.

That's why grated daikon is often served with tempura. Unfortunately, the effect of the enzyme is lost when the daikon is heated.

[torakris]

Another daikon salad

shredded daikon with a can of water packed scallops and mayo, seasoned with a splash of lemon juice. I added a pack of kaiware (daikon sprouts) for color.

I used the benriner to shred the daikon this time and it was too thin for my taste, it is better to julienne it by hand into thicker pieces.