How to Cook Daikon Radish

How to Cook Daikon Radish

Daikon radish has a mild spicy flavor, a little different from regular radishes. If you have visited Asia or Japan, you must have seen their food markets flooded with these. There are different types of dishes that you can make with daikon radish, including pickles, but you may enjoy them raw as well. As compared to carrots, daikon radishes have a crispier, less woody texture, due to which they become best suited for pickling and raw eating. They are good for your health as well, as they are zero on fat and low in calories, due to which they boost your metabolism and help you combat bloating. Larger radishes are not as tender as the smaller ones, but when cooked, they develop a nice texture and flavor. Read this oneHOWTO article to find out how to cook daikon radish.

Serve raw

Asians and Japanese usually enjoy daikon radish raw, mostly accompanied with fried foods. They usually use it as a digestion aid. To serve it raw, simply slice it in circles or grate it like you do with carrots, and make nice coleslaw with it. You may also add some salt and lime juice to give it a delicious flavor.

Steam it

If you wish to serve daikon radish cooked, then steaming is the best method to keep it healthy and preserve its nutrients as well. Once it becomes soft, you can add it to your salad and toss it with some extra virgin olive oil to enhance its flavor. Steamed daikon radish also becomes a nice side dish to serve with fish.

Make a soup

You can make a soup with daikon radish, which is healthy as well as delicious. The longer time you let the daikon radish cook, the less pungent it tends to become. So, while making a soup, make sure that you add it to the bowl only when the cooking process is about to end. If you are making a soup, allow all other vegetables to become tender first, and then add daikon radish so that it is allowed to cook only for a few minutes.

Add to gratin

Enhance the flavor of scalloped potatoes manifolds by adding slices of daikon radish to the mixture. Arrange all the vegetables in a box, cover with some béchamel sauce, and bake as you would do normally.

Use as a replacement for rice

Grate daikon radish to make tiny pearls or pulse it using a food processor. You can use this as a healthier alternative to rice. This rice can make a nice base for a variety of salads and you'll avoid excess arsenic intake in rice. Just toss it with a variety of vegetables, and add some vinaigrette.

Use in kimchi

If you are making some homemade kimchi, grate some daikon radish and add it to your recipe in place of cabbage. You may even use both cabbage and daikon radish to give a nice twist to your kimchi.

Fry it

Are you a fan of fried foods? You can make some great fried dish with daikon radish as well. You can fry it just like potatoes, and they look and taste great. Just cut the daikon radish in the shape of your choice, and go ahead to fry it.

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