Asian daikon salad, a most beautiful and tasty thing! One ingredient side salad with a simple but delicious vinaigrette.
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WHAT IS DAIKON?
Typically daikon is white and actually look like a thicker white carrot. They are common to Asian cuisine, particularly Chinese and Japanese. Not only are these daikon beautiful in color, they have the flavor to match. Whereas most radishes are peppery and sharp, these I'd characterize as crisp with a mild sweetness.
Daikon has many great health benefits. It's abundant in Vitamin C and is also well known as a source of the digestive enzyme amylase (a diastase), which breaks down complex starches into maltose. The presence of amylase combined with daikon's high amount of dietary fiber makes raw daikon a great aid in digestion.
WHAT'S NEEDED TO MAKE THIS DAIKON RECIPE
- Daikon Radish (purple or green preferred)
- Tamari
- Rice Vinegar
- Sesame Oil
- Honey
- Black Sesame Seeds
DAIKON SALAD INSTRUCTIONS
Make the vinaigrette
In a mixing bowl mix the soy sauce (Tamari), sesame oil, honey, and sesame seeds. Set aside and let the flavor merge.
Prep the salad
Peel and cut the daikon into very thin matchsticks. Toss with the dressing and serve.
DAIKON RADISH SALAD COOKING CONSIDERATIONS
Depending on which part of the daikon you use you'll get different tastes. The flavor of daikon changes from leaf to tip. The top part is usually the mildest and well suited to eating raw. The middle tends to be sweeter and for my money is the best part of the daikon given has a mix of both spicy and sweet flavors. The tip is the spiciest part.
Since this daikon salad recipe is a raw one I excluded the spicy end tips to achieve more balance. If you decide to include the spicier ends, then you might want to increase the amount of honey/sugar in the dressing. If you're hesitant or unsure, feel free to cut the daikon into thirds and sample from each section.
Daikon is easy to find at most Asian markets and it's starting to be available in some more mainstream grocery stores. Seasonally, you can find it at your local farmers' market.
Daikon can be found year-round, but high season is November/December.
MORE RECIPES
If you make this green and purple daikon radish salad, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback. Definitely take a photo of the dish and be sure to tag #foodfidelity so that I can see them.
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon tamari or light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
- 1 Daikon
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey and sesame seeds.
- Peel and cut Daikon into very thin into match sticks.
- Mix Daikon well with dressing.
Odelia Tan
Tuesday 13th of October 2020
You didn't say the weight of the daikon to use. Still searching for purple daikon but red daikon is seasonal during chinese new year.
Marwin Brown
Tuesday 13th of October 2020
I used 2 medium-sized daikon, which I'd estimate to be about 1 pound.
Christina
Tuesday 21st of January 2020
What happened to your braised daikon in orange sauce? I had it saved and now it goes immediately to this recipe! :(
Marwin Brown
Tuesday 21st of January 2020
Hi Christina, I've been editing the post. The recipe is still the same, but I'm adding some different text and images. The original recipe should be back up. Sorry about that.