Recipe: Japanese Radish and Carrot Salad and Article: An Asian Approach Makes Radishes Mild

AN ASIAN APPROACH MAKES RADISHES MILD MANNERED

"You should grow like a radish, with your head in the ground and your feet in the air," was my grandmother's version of a popular Yiddish curse. Many people shun radishes as if this crisp, zingy vegetable were itself cursed. They blame radishes for causing indigestion and tend to shy away from them because of their sometimes aggressive, bitter-sharp flavor.

Actually, radishes can be comfortably spicy when selected and prepared with understanding. For example, just as summer's excessive heat makes people grouchy and sharp, it also gives radishes more bite than those grown in the cooler climate of spring and fall. Partly, this is because the hot sun concentrates the mustard oil-like compounds responsible for a radish's sharpness. Still, in summer, a juicy, chilled radish can be deliciously refreshing and sweet, particularly when it is a carrot-shaped icicle radish or a larger, pearlescent daikon.

Radishes range in color from white and honeydew green to red, and even black, though only the tough skin of this variety is dirt-black; inside, the flesh is ivory white. Some radishes are cherry-size, others startlingly huge.

White radishes tend to be milder than the red, round, globe varieties. Generally speaking, the smaller the radish, the milder, as well. A daikon that is 10-12 inches long and weighing a pound or less is usually pleasantly sharp and succulent. (Capable of growing to 50 pounds, the bigger a daikon is, the more fibrous and sharp tasting it tends to be.)

Related to cabbage and broccoli, radishes are a cruciferous vegetable originally native to Asia. Perhaps this is why Asians seem to understand this vegetable best.

Koreans use daikon to make pungent kimchee. The Japanese serve it, grated angel hair-fine, with sushi and simmer big chunks of it in savory stews, letting soy sauce, sugar and long cooking bring out the vegetable's sweetness. They also pickle it, as in this colorful salad, which is perfect with grilled poultry and fish. Perhaps this slightly sweet dish will convince you to add radishes to your summer slaws, to try daikon in winter stews and soups, and to sample radishes, rather than shunning them, when they appear in crudites.

JAPANESE RADISH AND CARROT SALAD

1/2 pound daikon radish, about 7 inches x 1-1/2 inches, peeled ( or 1 bunch icicle or red radishes )
2 small carrots
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Kirby or pickling cucumber
1 scallion, green part only

Cut the radish or radishes into the thinnest possible slices, using a vegetable slicer or very sharp knife. Place them in a plastic container with a lid, or in a self-sealing plastic bag.

Cut the carrots diagonally into the thinnest possible slices. Add them to the radish.

Add the rice vinegar, sugar and salt to the vegetables. Pour in 1/4 cup water. Seal the container and shake until the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.

Peel the cucumber. Halve it lengthwise and seed it. Cut the cucumber lengthwise into the thinnest possible slices. Cut these crosswise, making 1 1/2-inch strips. Add to the pickled radish mixture. Shake with the dressing.

Drain off the dressing. Arrange the salad in a serving dish.

Cut the scallion into 1-1/2 inch-long pieces. Cut these lengthwise into fine strips. Sprinkle the scallion over the salad.

Serve chilled or at room temperature. This salad should be served the day it is made.

Each of the four servings contains 49 calories and less than 1 gram of fat
Source: Dana Jacobi by the American Institute for Cancer Research