Daikon

Daikon
A pile of daikon radishes.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Brassicales
Family:	Brassicaceae
Genus:	Raphanus
Species:	R. sativus
Variety:	R. sativus var. longipinnatus[1]
Trinomial name
Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus L.H.Bailey

Daikon (from Japanese ダイコン (daikon^?) (大根), literally "large root"), Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also called White Radish, Japanese radish, Oriental radish, Chinese radish and Mooli (from Hindi/Urdu Muulii),^[2][3][4] is a mild flavoured, very large, white East Asian radish. Despite being known most commonly by its Japanese name, it did not originate in Japan, but rather in continental Asia.
Although there are many varieties of daikon, the most common in Japan, the aokubi-daikon, has the shape of a giant carrot, approximately 20 to 35 cm (7.9 to 14 in) long and 5 to 10 cm (2.0 to 3.9 in) in diameter. One of the most unusually shaped varieties of daikon cultivated in Kagoshima Prefecture is the turnip-shaped sakurajima daikon, which often grows as large as 50 cm (20 in) in diameter and weighs as much as 45 kg (99 lb).^[5]
The flavour is generally rather mild compared to smaller radishes.

Contents 1 Culture 2 Use 3 Storage 4 Nutritional information

Culture

Sakurajima daikon

The variety 'Long White Icicle' is available as seed in Britain, and will grow very successfully in Southern England, producing roots resembling a parsnip by midsummer in good garden soil in an average year.^{[citation needed]}

Use

In Chinese cuisine, turnip cake and chai tow kway are made with daikon.
In Korean cuisine, kkakdugi and nabak kimchi use the vegetable, in addition to the soup moo-guk.
In Japanese cuisine, many types of pickles are made with daikon including takuan and bettarazuke. Daikon is also frequently used shredded and mixed into ponzu (a soy sauce and citrus juice condiment) as a dip. Simmered dishes are also popular such as oden. Cut and dried daikon is called 'Kiriboshi-daikon'(literally, cut-dried daikon) which is a common method of preserving food in Japan. Daikon radish sprouts ('Kaiware-daikon') are used for salad or garnishing of sashimi. Daikon leaf is frequently eaten as green vegetables. Pickles and stir frying are common. And Daikon leaf is one of a leaves of Festival of Seven Herbs, called 'suzushiro'.
In Pakistani cuisine, the leaves of the daikon plant are boiled and flash fried with a mixture of heated oil, garlic, ginger, red chili and a variety of spices. The radish is eaten as a fresh salad often seasoned with either salt and pepper or Chaat masala.

Storage

The roots can be stored for some weeks without the leaves if lifted and kept in a cool dry place. If left in the ground, the texture tends to become woody, but the storage life of untreated whole roots is not long.^{[clarification needed]}

Nutritional information

Daikon is very low in food energy. A 3 ounce (85 g) serving contains only 18 Calories (75 kJ), but provides 34 percent of the RDA for vitamin C. Daikon also contains the active enzyme myrosinase.