Japanese Radish Shredded & Sun-Dried-Mitoku Daikon Giant white radish (daikon) is the most popular vegetable in Japan, and Japanese cooking is impossible to imagine without it. Mitoku Sun-Dried Daikon is made the traditional way, by simply shredding the fresh daikon and leaving it to dry in the sun during the clear, dry days of winter. Dried Daikon is very sweet and goes well with many other foods. After shredding, it is laid out on rice mats (tatami) to dry outside in the sun for several weeks. Drying gives daikon an especially sweet, mellow flavor. May be sautéed alone or with other vegetables, seasoned to taste with shoyu.
Our MitokuDried Daikon (also called kiriboshi daikon) is still being made by a traditional process carried out only in the winter months. Fresh daikon root is simply shredded, then allowed to dry thoroughly in the sun. Drying gives daikon a sweet, mellow taste and preserves most of its nutritional value. Stored in a sealed package in a cool, dry place, dried daikon keeps well, thus providing a good supplement to a winter diet.
Uses: To reconstitute dried daikon, soak it in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes if you are planning to boil it, 30-60 minutes if sautéing or pickling. Remove daikon, squeeze out excess water, chop, and add to soups and stews or sauté alone or with other vegetables.
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Cooking with Daikon
The two Japanese characters that make up the word daikon (Japanese radish) mean "great root." Although the great roots typically weigh three to five pounds and measure eighteen inches long, one variety can grow to over 100 pounds!
Although daikon is usually associated with Asian cuisine, botanists believe it originated in the eastern Mediterranean region. From there it spread east, arriving in China about 500 B.C. and in Japan around 700 A.D.
Pickled, raw, dried, or cooked, the leaves and roots of daikon is one of Japan's most prized and widely used vegetables. Folk healers and scientists alike have noted the outstanding nutritional and medicinal qualities of raw and pickled daikon. Simply steamed with a little soy sauce, or elegantly prepared in the temple tradition with white miso sauce, the flavor of cooked daikon root is truly unique and delicious. |
Daikon Miso Soup Serves 4
6 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup Mitoku Sun-Dried Daikon
1 carrot, sliced
1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped kale or mustard greens
4 level tablespoons Mitoku Onozaki Barley Miso or Mitoku Johsen Barley Rice Miso
Soak daikon in the 6 cups water for 10-15 minutes, then squeeze out excess water (reserve soaking water). Chop daikon and combine with soaking water in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a simmer, add sliced carrot and simmer 10 minutes. Add greens and simmer 5-7 minutes more. Remove from heat. Dilute the miso in a little of the broth and add to soup. Allow it to sit a couple minutes before serving.
Dried Daikon Pickles 1 cup (tightly packed) Mitoku Sun-Dried Daikon
1 carrot, slivered
1 dried red chili pepper, seeded & minced (optional)
1/4 cup Mitoku Kyushu Brown Rice Vinegar
1/4 cup Mitoku Mikawa Mirin
3 tablespoons Mitoku Johsen Shoyu
Soak the dried daikon in lukewarm water 30-60 minutes. Remove, squeeze out excess water, and chop in 1-inch pieces. Mix with slivered carrot and place in a small bowl. Combine red pepper, vinegar, mirin and shoyu in a saucepan and boil 1 minute (no longer). Immediately pour over vegetables. To keep vegetables submerged, place a drop-lid such as a wide-mouth jar lid or small plate in the bowl and put a light weight such as an empty jar on top. The weight need only be enough to keep vegetables covered with liquid. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep heat in as long as possible, but allow steam to escape. These pickles will be ready to eat in half a day and will keep well in the refrigerator if stored in a jar or other covered container.
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