Japanese Pickled Air-dried Daikon “Takuan” (easy version).

No Japanese table is not completed without tsukemono or Japanese lactic-acid fermented vegetables (pickles). In Japanese culture, everything has its own place and purpose. Pickled vegetables are rich in probiotic cultures that promote digestive health (check my previous posts with the secrets of a Japanese healthy diet). Pickled daikon is absolutely delicious, so crunchy and flavorful, sweet and tart, such a yummy addition to your meal. Serve it with fatty fish (grilled salmon, mackerel or eel), or in your bento or as part of washoku (see my Instagram posts).

I still can’t forget the tsukemono I’ve tried in Kyoto market, Kyoto is famous of its pickled vegetables. I’ve tried to find tsukemono in Auckland supermarkets, but they usually sell the pickled radish with adding sweetener and another nasties, definitely is not my kinda food. So I found the recipe and decided to try to make it from scratch. And really happy with the results! Hope you will like the Takuan too!

Japanese Pickled Air-dried Daikon “Takuan” (easy version).

Recipe by Leno RegushCourse: Fermented Food, Japanese Food, Salads, Vegan recipes, VegetarianCuisine: Japanese, KoreanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Pickled daikon is absolutely delicious, so crunchy and flavorful, sweet and tart, such a yummy addition to your meal.

Ingredients

• 1 daikon radish, peeled (about 500g)

• 1 tablespoon salt or 3% weight of daikon radish

• 3-4 tablespoons sugar or 10% weight of radish

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or 5% weight of radish

• 5cm piece of Kombu 

• 2 tablespoon warm water

• 1 pinch saffron threads

Directions

• Cut the peeled daikon longwise into halves. Place on a plate lined with paper towel and left in sunny place for about 5-14 days to dry (near your window). The drier the radish, the more crunchy it will be after marinating. The air drying process goes well in lower temperatures.
• Combine the saffron and warm water in a small bowl, set aside for about 10 minutes.
  Pour the saffron water (with the threads) in a appropriate size ziplock bag, add daikon and remaining ingredients, rub and combine well, then remove the air. Leave the bag in the fridge for at least 10 days (up to several month) flipping the bag occasionally. I would recommend to place the bag to airtight container to prevent a smell. Wash the pickled radish with water to remove excess brine and then slice thinly before serving. Enjoy!