Simmered Daikon Wheels

October 9th, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas

 

Daikon is a challenge for a lot of people who aren’t familiar with it.  Especially when cooked, It has a rather strong, radishy flavor that, if untamed, can be off-putting. Japanese people seem to never tire of it though — more agricultural land is devoted to daikon than any other vegetable! In Japan it’s often grated finely and infused with soy sauce and sometimes yuzu, for a wonderfully pungent and flavorful dipping sauce for tempura, meats, fish, and stewed dishes. It’s also commonly sliced into 1/2-inch wheels and cooked in a broth made with water, kombu, soy sauce, and mirin; it’s supercomfort food, especially during cold weather. 

I found some nice-looking organic daikon the other day at Berkeley Bowl, and thought I might try cooking it in another flavorful broth, this time made of carrot juice, chicken stock, white wine, and plum syrup (bottled reduced plums cooked in sugar and water, often sold in Chinese markets, and a wonderful global flavor blast sweetener in its own right).  The daikon wheels came out soft, fragrant, and popping with umami. We had them alongside a roasted chicken leg and some rice cooked in homemade beef stock and kaffir lime leaves. 

Lunch the next day (above photo) was a winner: rice refried in a huge quantity of ginger, the daikon wheels, avocado with lavender salt, and homemade pickled turnips for crunch and tanginess (though you can’t seem them in the photo). There’s something supremely satisfying about a lunch of rice, vegetables, pickles, and avocado; it hits all the right buttons for me, and can be assembed in just a few minutes with leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. 

Any other daikon fans out there? What do you like to do with it?

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  1. 7 Responses to “Simmered Daikon Wheels”

  2. By Karena on Oct 10, 2008

    My mom always made daikon cakes for the Lunar New Year. After she grated a giant daikon, she mixed in diced shitakes, salt pork, green onions, and rice flour to hold it together. She would then pour it into a pan and steam it as a cake. Come New Year’s Day, she would pan fry the slices until crispy on the outside. My sisters and I still devour plates of them.

    Mom also makes a beef stew with chunks of daikon. They take on the flavor of the aromatics–star anise, ginger, tangerine peel, soy, and palm sugar–and turn a dark amber from the stew’s glaze. Yum.

    In my own kitchen, I generally julienne a daikon and make the pickles that go into banh mi sandwiches. Even when I select the smallest daikon at the market, I usually end up with several mason jars in the fridge!

  3. By Eric on Oct 11, 2008

    Thanks Karena.Those cakes sound incredible, even though they are surely tons of work. I think I will try your mom’s beef stew — I have a ton of stewing meat from the recent half cow purchase.

    How do you do your pickles? Just cover with vinegar/sweetener? Even more importantly, let’s hear about the bahn mi!

  4. By Em on Oct 12, 2008

    My favorite Daikon dish is in Oden! Especially when the Daikon is cooked so well and it almost melts in your mouth.

  5. By Karena on Oct 13, 2008

    The daikon and carrot pickles are really easy–julienne a daikon and a carrot, then combine with 1/2 cup of unseasoned rice vinegar, 1 generous tablespoon of sugar, and a pinch of sea salt for about 30 minutes.

    For the banh mi, I cut up chicken thighs or pork; marinate in soy sauce, smashed garlic, and a bit of sugar; then pan fry (boo hoo, no grill). I take a Vietnamese baguette and spread half with some Fatted Calf or Fra Mani pate, top with chicken, then daikon-carrot pickles, cilantro, and slices of jalapeno. My husband takes his banh mi without pate and cilantro. I’ve stopped giving him a hard time about it.

  6. By Eric on Oct 13, 2008

    Thanks Karena — the sandwich sounds wonderful, and it’s big of you not to give the hubbie a hard time about no cilantro!

  7. By [eatingclub] vancouver || js on Oct 21, 2008

    I love carrot and daikon pickles. We usually cook daikon with pork bones and water for soup. They’re delicious.

  8. By Victor Ortiz on Nov 14, 2008

    It is silly, but this recipe makes me feel like getting off my touchie and making some bona fide oden. Talk about refreshing and the broth would be good about now.

    Gotta try the daikon wheels before then.

    Thanks for the ideas, as usual.

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