Daikon

The pearly white giant radish, daikon, is a remarkable healing food. It aids digestion, is a weight loss remedy, cleanses the blood, promotes energy circulation and increases the metabolic rate. It contains diuretics, decongestants and the digestive enzymes diastase, amylase and esterase. This makes daikon a primary ingredient in a variety of home remedies.

Regular use of daikon helps prevent the common cold, flu and respiratory infections. Daikon treats hangovers, sore throats, colds and edema, and it helps the kidneys and decongest the lungs. This restorative vegetable also has anti-carcinogenic properties.

Because I love its pungent sweet bite, I keep a supply of daikon on hand and enjoy it as a vegetable in stir-fries, braised dishes, soups and fermented dishes. Roasting brings out it’s sweetness, as you’ll see in Roasted Daikon and Dandelion Greens Soup.  

The first radish, with a coarse black skin, originated in Egypt. Daikon, a white or green-skinned radish that’s shaped like a giant carrot, was developed in Asia, while in Europe the petite red and icicle radishes flourished. Daikon and black radishes store better than red radishes but all are interchangeable in their culinary and medicinal properties.

In today’s markets, daikon is relatively inexpensive and widely available. Buy it only when it is heavy for its size, firm and with a fresh, vibrant appearance. If it’s oversized, pithy, withered or discolored it will taste disagreeably hot and pungent. Fresh daikon has a sweet taste and cooking enhances this sweetness.

Daikon is shipped with its leaves intact but grocers typically remove and discard the greens. Request daikon with tops, as these healthful greens are delicious in soups and stews. It’s not necessary to peel daikon. To cook daikon, cut it into any desired shape and use it as you would a carrot in soups or casseroles or in steamed, braised or stir-fried dishes.

For home gardeners, daikon is an easy crop to grow and can grow prolifically and prodigiously, reaching weights of up to 100 pounds.

May you be well nourished,

Rebecca Wood