Salads

Korean Pickled Daikon Radish 

by Dominique Didier

Bright yellow pickled daikon are a staple in Japanese and Korean cuisine. Known as takuan in Japan and Danmuji in Korea, these pickles add a sweet and savory crunch to sushi rolls or as a side in many Asian dishes. You can eat them as a snack, add to sandwiches or salads, or chop and sprinkle on plain white rice. This recipe came to me from my Korean roommate’s mother. We always had a jar of her pickles in the refrigerator. 

  • You will need a large airtight glass jar or jars. 

Ingredients: 

1 lb. daikon radish peeled and cut in pieces 3” long. You can make these into 1 – 2” thick spears or thick chunks. 

1 cup sugar 

1 cup water 

1/3 cup vinegar 

¼ TBSP red pepper seed 

1 small red chili pepper (optional – I did not use it) 

1 tsp ground turmeric (optional; this will give the pickles their yellow color, adjust turmeric to get the color you like) 

¼ tsp alum 

Instructions: 

  1. Place daikon chunks in a large bowl of water to completely cover the daikon. Soak for 24 hours, then drain. 

  2. Add sugar, water, vinegar, red pepper seed and chili pepper and tumeric (if using) to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cool. 

  3. Once the vinegar solution is cooled, add the alum. 

  4. Fill jar(s) with daikon and cover with the vinegar solution. These will be ready to eat in ~8 hours but will taste best after 24 – 48 hours. These last a long time in the refrigerator – I still have some I pickled last year – but they will lose some crispness over time. 

Note: You may have to adjust the volume of vinegar solution depending on how much daikon you use and the size of your jar(s). Sometimes I make 1.5x or double a pickling recipe to ensure I have enough liquid to cover my pickles. More than once I’ve had to whip up a second batch of pickling solution to top off my jars! 

Persimmon Daikon Salad

Everyone’s heard of avocado toast, but a classic French open-faced toast is radish toast. Use any type of radish, or a mixture to give a variety of colors. 

Prep time 10 min., Total time 10 min.; Serves 2

Ingredients:

Daikon radish – use a length of about 3 inches of a thick radish, you may need more if your daikon is small or especially narrow.

1 peeled persimmon (or more if your persimmon is small).

Handful of mizuna leaves or other attractive green such as arugula, baby spinach, tatsoi, or parsley (optional).

Dressing:

1 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1 TBSP canola oil or other neutral flavored oil
Pinch of salt
Black pepper

Instructions:

  1. Slice the daikon into discs about 1/8”thick, then cut into matchsticks. Place into a bowl of chilled water for 5 minutes to make them crisp.

  2. Slice persimmon, then cut into 1/8” matchsticks (roughly the same size as the daikon matchsticks).

  3. If you are using greens, cut them into smaller pieces.

  4. Place the daikon, persimmon, and greens (if using) into a bowl.

  5. Put the dressing ingredients in a jar or small bowl and shake/mix well.

  6. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and mix so the ingredients are well coated in dressing. Serve immediately.

Note: the size of daikon and persimmon will vary. This recipe as written will result in about ½ - ¾ cups of daikon and persimmon. Basically, you want to have an equal amount of matchsticks of each so adjust according to the size of your produce and number of servings you desire.