Who knew radishes were part of the brassica family?! I certainly did not, until I read about it in the Brassicas book that V bought. It falls in the category of root brassicas along with turnips, rutabagas and horseradish. Out of all of them, radishes are my favorite. There comes a season in the farmer’s market when radishes of all varieties show up – rainbow radishes, black radishes, table radishes and other colorful ones. Daikon radishes, however, seem to be available pretty much year round in Northern California. These long white radishes with a mild flavor are used prolifically in Asian and Indian cooking.
Daikon radishes in Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese cooking are a favorite for pickling. In fact, the inspiration for the recipe in this post came from a Banh Mi salad we had last weekend at Veggie Grill, a local vegan restaurant. (I know Banh mi sans the bread doesn’t make any sense as Banh Mi means bread, but I guess some poetic license was used in the naming!)
In India, the Daikon radishes are more pungent and a lot smaller than the ones we get here in Northern California. Some sources call these small pungent ones “White Icicles” instead of “Daikon”. In any case, these long white radishes, known as mooli in Hindi and mullangi in Tamil are prepared in different ways. They are boiled in lentil soups and stews, stuffed in to bread to make filling mooli parathas (stuffed flatbreads) and are sometimes eaten raw with a squeeze of lemon and a dash of salt and pepper. Oh the satisfying bite of eating them raw! The leaves of Daikon radish are equally flavorful and are added to lentil soups.
Yes, the world is going to hell in a hand basket due to human related activities of over polluting, over-harvesting of natural resources and utter disregard for science (I am referring to our grand gesture of withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord), but I am glad we have radishes in our hand basket. And that’s all I will say on that topic!
This salad is inspired by Vietnamese flavors, and includes pickled radishes and carrots (called do chua) and baked lemongrass tofu. It needs a bit of prep work for both these ingredients, but is otherwise quite simple to assemble. I got the pickling recipe from White on Rice couple, whose recipes are always fail-proof. The lemongrass tofu is my own concoction.
I could not resist using all the spring herbs in our garden, but one could go a little lighter on herbs, I guess. Or not. I always go a little crazy with herbs in springtime when copious amounts of basil and mint are ready to be harvested in the garden. The lemongrass also is from a pot in the garden. Lemongrass is pretty easy to grow, and unless you have a huge space, it is better to plant it in a pot as it will take over the garden like mint.
Recipe for Daikon Radish Salad with Lemongrass Tofu
Makes 4 large lunch-sized servings
For the pickled radishes and carrots (Make at least 3 days ahead):
- 2 cups water (slightly warm to dissolve the salt and sugar)
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1.5 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 medium sized daikon radish (about 0.5 pounds), scrubbed, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 2 small carrots (about 0.5 pounds), scrubbed, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 1 tub of tofu (14 oz)
- 2 stalks of lemongrass, tough outer layers and top stem removed and tender inside green part near the root minced
- 6 Tbsp avocado oil or some mild vegetable/nut oil
- 6 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp red chili flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Spring green mix, about 4 large handfuls, washed and dried
- 1 long English cucumber, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 1 jalapeno pepper, washed, de-seeded and minced (omit if you don’t want the heat)
- 1 avocado, cubed
- few sprigs of cilantro, washed well and chopped fine
- 1/4 cup mint leaves, washed and julienned
- 1/4 cup basil leaves, washed and julienned
- few sprigs of spring onion, chopped in to small rings (optional)
- 1/4 cup toasted almond slivers for garnish (optional)
- Prepare the pickled radishes and carrots:
- Mix the water, vinegar, salt and sugar well
- Pour over the sliced radishes and carrots
- Close tightly with a lid and refrigerate for at least 3 days
- When ready to use, strain the liquid and throw it away
- Prepare the baked lemongrass tofu:
- Drain the water and place the tofu on a deep plate or bowl. Place another plate over the tofu and weigh it down for at least an hour until the water is squeezed out of the tofu. Then cut the tofu in to slabs.
- Place the tofu slabs if possible in 1 or 2 layers in a shallow container with a lid
- Whisk together the oil, vinegar, chili flakes, garlic, lemongrass, salt and sugar thoroughly
- Pour over the tofu
- Close tightly and refrigerate overnight
- To bake the tofu: Preheat the oven to 400F
- Remove the tofu from the container and save the marinade. You will use the marinade as a dressing
- Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and place the tofu in a single layer on the foil
- Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, flipping the tofu once mid way, until slightly golden on both sides
- Cool and cut the baked tofu in to bite-sized pieces
- Save the marinade for dressing:
- Strain the minced lemon grass, garlic and chili flakes from the tofu marinade. (Press with the back of a spoon to release all flavors)
- Add more oil and vinegar if needed
- Taste and adjust salt and add a pinch of black pepper and whisk
- Assemble the salad:
- Toss together the spring green mix, pickled radishes and carrots, baked lemon grass tofu, sliced cucumber, jalapeno peppers, avocado and chopped herbs with the dressing
- Garnish with toasted almond slivers while serving
As we sat outdoors on this beautiful spring day to enjoy our lunch salad, hummingbirds and bees buzzed around, presumably enjoying their own lunch. This has indeed been a lovely spring with tons of flowers due to the generous winter rains. After lunch, I sat outside here dreaming up more radish recipes to make in the days to come.
P.S. I am submitting this recipe to Meat-free Mondays on Tinned Tomatoes! As mentioned in the previous post, I totally believe in a “reducetarian” diet, where everyone attempts to reduce their intake of meat for our own health and the health of our planet.