ilyadaysRecipes

Japanese basics

Pickled radishes

Unlike the cucumbers, which get a small dressing-style marinade, the radishes soak in a large amount of liquid: cut, salt briefly, then leave it fully submerged in a sweet-vinegar brine (amazu) in the fridge. Pick your vinegar below and the amounts update.

1 jar (~500 g radishes)~15 min + 6 h to days
Pickled radishes

Mise en place — set out in the order it goes in

  1. Radishes
    Radisheshalved or quartered, salted, patted dryStep 2
  2. Brine
    Brinewarmed, then cooledStep 3
  3. Jar extras
    Jar extras
    • ginger
    • kombu
    • chilli
    Step 4

Prep order — what happens when, and what overlaps

minutes
0102030405060
Trim + cut radishes 6 min
6 min
Salt and rest 25 min
25 min
Warm brine to dissolve 4 min
Brine cools 18 min
18 min
Rinse, jar, pour brine 4 min
Fridge (6 h → days) 25 min
25 min
BoardHands-offPan / stoveBowl / counter

The last bar keeps going: edible after ~6 hours, best after 2–3 days.

Step by step

  1. Cut off the leaves and the root tips.
    Cut off the leaves and the root tips.
    Halve them — quarter the big ones — so the pieces are about the same size.
    Halve them — quarter the big ones — so the pieces are about the same size.

    1Trim and cut

    ~6 min

    For this step

    • Red radishes500 g
    • Cut off the leaves and the root tips.
    • Halve the radishes, or quarter the big ones, so the pieces are about the same size.
    Trim and cut
    Should look like this
  2. After 20–30 minutes, rinse off the salt and the juice under cold water, then drain.
    After 20–30 minutes, rinse off the salt and the juice under cold water, then drain.

    2Salt, then rinse

    20–30 min

    For this step

    • Salt, for drawing out water1 tsp
    • Toss the cut radishes with 1 tsp salt and leave 20–30 minutes — they give off juice.
    • Rinse off the salt and the juice under cold water and drain well. They’ll stay crunchy and take up the brine better.
    Salt, then rinse
    Should look like this
  3. Make the brine

    3Make the brine

    low~4 min + cooling
    • Warm just until the sugar dissolves (mirin only if using):
      • rice vinegar 150 ml
      • water 150 ml +
      • sugar 60 g (5 tbsp)
      • salt 1 tsp
      • mirin 2 tbsp
    • Don’t boil it. Let it cool.
  4. Pack the radishes into the jar, tuck in the kombu and chilli, then pour over the cooled brine until everything is submerged.
    Pack the radishes into the jar, tuck in the kombu and chilli, then pour over the cooled brine until everything is submerged.

    4Into the jar

    ~3 min

    For this step

    • Fresh ginger, peeler stripsvery little: about 1 strip per 2–3 radishes
    • Pack the radishes into the jar.
    • Tuck in:
      • fresh ginger, a few peeler strips
      • kombu a 5 cm square
      • dried chilli 1
      • yuzu or lemon peel a strip
    • Pour over the cooled brine until everything is fully submerged.
    Into the jar
    Should look like this
  5. Wait

    5Wait

    6 h – 2 weeks
    • Lid on, into the fridge.
    • Good after about 6 hours, best after 2–3 days.
    • Keeps about 2 weeks; always lift pieces out with clean chopsticks.
  6. Always lift pieces out with clean chopsticks.
    Always lift pieces out with clean chopsticks.

    6Serve

    Serve chilled as a side with rice, alongside karaage or in a bento.

    Serve
    Should look like this