Winter Flavors Delectable Daikon Kimberly Fitzgerald (Wellness Editor) One of the many benefits of living in the Japanese countryside is that friends, neighbors, and coworkers tend to display their kindness and generosity with food—often straight from their own gardens. This happens so regularly that I have developed a system of storing some reciprocal gifts, otherwise known as “okaeshi,” in my apartment to show my appreciation for their generosity. This okaeshi stockpile came in handy a few weeks ago, as one of my neighbors recently gave me a bag, bursting at the seams, of what looked to be massive, pale carrots. As you may have suspected, these were not actually carrots, but rather white Japanese radishes, better known as “daikon.” And I was now the proud owner of more daikon than I knew what to do with. Daikon is a common staple in Japanese cuisine. Pickled daikon is a popular side dish in restaurants all across Japan, but it is also eaten raw, boiled, steamed, and fried. Though the flavors of a daikon can vary greatly depending on the variety, raw daikon has a sweet and slightly sharp flavor, milder than a red radish. When cooked, daikon tastes mellow and becomes tender, absorbing the juices of whatever it is cooked with. Daikon greens are very peppery with a strong flavor, but also mellow when cooked. Valued for its nutrition, it is used not only in Japanese cuisine, but also in Chinese, Korean, and many Southeast Asian cuisines. The vegetable is so versatile that a simple Google search for “daikon recipes” yields over 2,800,000 results, ranging from the traditional simmered daikon to “daikon french fries.”
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