Daikon

Daikon radish come in different shapes, sizes and colours. We grow three cultivars: White, Red and Purple and hope to grow many more of these beauties in the future.

1 September 2021

We pulled the last of the white daikon radish for a couple of months ~ so we’re celebrating the last of the winter daikon this week.

Wild radish is believed to be native to: somewhere between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (Kaneko et al, 2007). Wild radish roots were eaten in Ancient Egypt since 2700 BC, where it was also later cultivated. Radish was introduced and cultivated in China almost 2500 years ago, and in Japan 1300 years ago.

Some researchers believe that varieties of wild radish are actually native to some coastal areas of Japan. They argue that Japanese wild radish traveled with tides and currents, eventually crossing with introduced species of radish along the silk road via contaminated grain, to form other varieties (Kaneko et al, 1993).

Daikon is a water rich root vegetable that is wonderful enjoyed raw in salads, fermented as kimchi, steamed for 10 mins, or roasted. Roasted daikon is very delicious. Add a miso & maple glaze and it gets taken to the next level.

For the maple glaze: Add 1tbsp of miso to 1 tbsp of maple syrup & whisk.

To roast daikon: Cut the daikon into 1cm disks. Roast in the oven at 200C (fan forced) for 20 mins or until the slices become a little caramelised. Add the roasted daikon to the maple glaze in a bowel & coat well. Put the disks back to the oven for 5 mins.

We are in awe of kimchi master Kwang Hee Mama Park, and her dandelion kimchi broke our hearts ~ this interview is legit.

Daikon radish is very often a central ingredient to kimchi. Some researchers argue that the practice of preparing and eating kimchi is some 4000 years old (Jang et al, 2015). Other researchers argue that the practice of eating kimchi is only 100 years old. The contention in the literature seems to surround the introduction of hot chilli plants and wombok cabbages into Korea.

Large kimchi jars remain dug into the ground at the Temple de Beopju in the Chungcheongbuk-do Province, South Korea. This temple has opened its doors for over 1500 years.

If you’d like to read more about this kimchi contention, you can read this paper for free online. We recognise kimchi as being a cultural practice dating back thousands of years. It’s an interesting subject where genome mapping, cultural histories, art and religion all meet.

11 August 2021

Daikon is back this week <3 After having the best law bok gow radish cakes from Tasty Buns on Collins street, Grace was inspired to make some. She used this recipe from Cooking with Dog ~ amazing.

21 April 2021

Purple daikon.
You'll notice cutting into purple daikon that they've got thick purple skins. The purple colour comes from anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are a type of flavonoid that are super healthful! All purple vegetables that carry the anothocyanin trait also tend to be much more fibrous. The thick skin on the purple daikon is a sister trait of the anthocyanins ~ the same goes for purple cabbages, kohlrabi’s & purple sprouting broccoli.

Image source:
Image 1: www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vladimir_Zuev_(professor_of_TSAU)_hold_on_daikon_growing_in_Uzbekistan
Image 2: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618115000451#bib6
Image 3: https-//www.cycleblaze.com/journals/japan2007/day-32-iwakuni-to-tsuwano-we-cross-paths-with-the-velomad-team/

References:
Kaneko Y, Kimizuka-Takagi C, Bang SW, Matsuzawa Y (2007) Radish. In: Kole C., editor. Genome Mapping and Molecular Breeding in Plants. vol. 5. New York: Springer: pp. 141-160
YUKIO KANEKO, YASUO MATSUZAWA, in Genetic Improvement of Vegetable Crops, 1993