Winter Radishes

I’ve had a few CSA members ask me about what to do with the winter radishes and then I got tagged in a post from Culinary Breeding Network asking the same. Definitely head over to her feed for a really beautiful illustration of different types and more on them in the near future.

Here’s one thing I do with them, make a quick slaw. This is just grated carrot and radish sprinkled and mixed with a bit of seasoned rice vinegar and furikake. This is a little side I make with whatever turnips or radish roots are handy, and other firm vegetables are good too, like kohlrabi.

If you want to reduce the sharp flavor of the radish (a desirable feature to some and overwhelming to others), start by peeling it as a lot of the sharpest notes are on the surface. Another thing I often do with it is to cut it into wedges and then parboil it before putting it over Umi Organic’s fresh ramen noodles – along with parboiled chunks of leek or green onion, carrot, turnips, etc. For that I usually make a dressing of miso, tahini, tamari, toasted sesame oil, lime, ginger and sake (or a variation on that based on what I have on hand – heavier on the miso and tahini and lighter on the other ingredients).

In the background you can see a pile of mustard greens from the last share that I cooked with just a little water and tamari. We ate that with brown rice, and poke made from Ilimana salmon which is a real treat!