The daikon (AKA white radish or mooli) is a much beloved vegetable in Japan - you'll find it featured in many classic Japanese woodblock prints and today, people even make daikon into very cute food sculptures!
Daikon isn't so popular here in the UK and that's a shame as it is considered a very healthy thing to eat (lots of fibre, high vitamin C and phosphorus and potassium.) It can also be made into many delicious dishes - daikon is especially good for simmered dishes like this recipe as it soaks up flavours and seasoning really well.
I like to think my recipe for Daikon in a Miso sauce is right up there with the best of them. This is a simple dish to create - the daikon needs to be simmered 20-30 mins to cook and you can use that time to make your sweet miso sauce. A lot of chefs in Japan enrich the sauce with an egg yolk or two but I prefer to keep it simple - that way, it can be served to vegetarians and vegans as well.
I hope you'll try this, the sensation of biting into that soft daikon flesh flavoured with sweet miso is, dare I say, quite a sensual food experience (and it's healthy & nutritional too!)
So, if you're in the mood for something sensual to eat, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Daikon in Miso sauce or scroll to the bottom of the page. You can find the written recipe just below.
Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX.
(PS: Daikon is very easy to grow if you have a space in your garden. All it really needs is deep, soft, rich soil, lots of water and sunshine now and then. If you want to try your hand, you can find my "how to" instructions here.)
Daikon in Miso sauce.
ingredients:
(makes 4 pieces)
16cm daikon (white radish/mooli)
4 pieces or 10cm of dried kelp
for the sweet miso sauce:
2 tbsp japanese cooking sake
2 tbsp mirin
1.5 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp miso
some toasted sesame seeds (optional)
how to:
to cook the daikon, peel, cut it into 4 equal pieces, trim the edges slightly (this helps the daikon hold a nice shape while it simmers)
put the daikon & kelp into a saucepan, pour in enough water to just cover the daikon
bring to the boil and simmer over medium to low heat for approx. 25-30 mins (depending on the size of the daikon)
use a skewer to make sure the white radish is cooked through
to make the sweet miso sauce:
put the sake, mirin, sugar & miso in a pan
bring to the boil then turn down to a medium-low heat and simmer for 1 - 2 mins while stirring to evaporate the alcohol
serve the daikon with some sweet miso sauce spooned over the top & sprinkled with some toasted sesame seeds (optional)