For my blog, today I will be pickling some Daikon. Since I love to eat pickled radish as a side dish, this was something I’ve done countless times before. Normally I would pickle some carrots along with my radish, it adds colors and a little bit of sweetness, but unfortunately my mother didn’t realize I needed the carrots and used it all for something else. On that note, today I will only be pickling some daikon via a vinegar brine (which is essentially vinegar and water). Pickled radish is popular in several East Asian countries such as China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam (more southeast Asian). It is either incorporated into dishes, or eaten alone as a side dish. I’ve followed several recipes found online, and while most of them are all good in their own ways, I wanted to make something that catered to my tastes. As you may or may not have realized, I enjoy a lot of east Asian foods, and being Chinese myself it is needless to say my diet revolves heavily around east Asian foods. Even so the methods of cooking certain foods are different in each culture, so as a result the flavors could change drastically depending on how you pair them. A lot of the time recipes for pickled radish have them very sour, it’s not that I don’t like them, but when I pair it off with other types of food or cuisine, it tends to overpower other dished, even more so if I put them IN other dishes. So I decided to make a recipe to tone it down. The way my mom does it, is to simply cook some white vinegar and chop up some radish, of course this leaves the radish ridiculously sour, and refreshing if we’re eating something very greasy, but aside from that it is too much for my taste palate.

 

Ingredients:

• 1lbs of daikon

• 2 cups of hot water

• 2 cups of regular water

• ½ cup of rice vinegar

• 4 tbsp. Sugar

• 2 tbsp. salt

 

 

This time I just used white vinegar because I didn’t realize that I ran out of rice vinegar (which is generally sweeter than other vinegars), I also prepared 1 pound of daikon rather than ½ pound of daikon and carrot because I didn’t have any carrots.

 

Steps:

1. Julienne the daikon (and carrots), and cover with the salt to get out some moisture.

2.  In a bowl place the sugar in and add the hot water. Mix until the sugar has dissolved before adding the rest of the water, and vinegar. Set aside to cool down.

3. Try to soak up as much liquid and moisture from the salted daikons. In air tight containers, place the chopped up daikon and fill with the pickling liquid.

4. Seal and place in fridge for at least three days.

 

Honestly, the daikon could have been pickled whole, sliced thinly, or cubed but I prefer julienne because I like to incorporate it into my food that way. For example, if I were to make rice rolls it’s easier to place a julienne cut daikon into the wrap rather than putting cubes inside. Although it doesn’t seem like it would make a huge difference, the texture would have been completely different.

 

 

So of course, I’ve made this a numerous amount of times, and since it had been catered to my own tastes, I’d say it’s quite delicious. It in thinly slice and not too sour, the sugar enhances the flavors of the daikon and make it sweet and sour which is how I like it. It goes as a great pairing for savory foods. For example, I can use it to make kimbap (Korean seaweed rice rolls) which is balanced out by spinach, sausage/beef. I can also use it to make Goi cuon, which is a Vietnamese rise roll, which consist of vermicelli, boiled pork, shrimp, and lettuce. It is served with a fish sauce, or a hoisin and peanut sauce (which I personally prefer).