Fermentation of Daikon Radish

Today, I harvested a bunch of daikon radish. I want to ferment them. I've looked on the web, and I find a bunch of recipes for pickled radish that include vinegar, but I don't think that's what I'm looking for.

I'm looking for something in the style of sandor katz.

Can anybody provide me with a simple recipe for fermenting daikon radish?

Do I need some kind of special starter?

Thanks.

I have fermented daikon radish. It's easy. There's no particular recipe. Put it under water and let the lactobacillus bacteria multiply and preserve them. Add a touch of salt at the beginiing. I almost always have mixed vegetable ferments, so I would probably put other cabbage family vegetables in it probably. Just make sure it's covered with a plate or something to keep it under the water.
JohN S
PDX OR

I agree with John above.

There's a wonderful forum about fermentation, including lots of pickles, and I'm sure it's got fermented radish pickles.

http://www.wildfermentation.com/

The book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz, or his more encylopedic The Art of Fermentation, are both great resources if you want to start fermenting anything. Wild Fermentation is a great inspiration, and may remove your fear of the unknown.

We do our radish pickles Indian style, in oil with lots of spices and salt! Look up "radish achar recipes". Yum!

The absolute BEST way to pickle any radish:



The hardest part is waiting for it to ferment!

The recipe posted above looks awesome - Maangchi is always a good bet - and she's got other radish recipes too. I make her kimchi and her gochujang soup all the time.

i grow daikon and pickle them, its one of the home grown things I can make easily here, I shred then put in a jar under water and add about a tbsp. of salt per qt and let them sit for a week or two. very easy and tastes good. Learned not to let the radishes get too mature or they get woody and the flavor is not as good.

For a wild ferment, ala Katz, you won't need a starter for fermenting daikon.

At it's most simple:

Chop Daikon

Layer with salt (at least 2Tbs per pound, plus one for the pot)

Weigh down

If after 12 hours, the moisture doesn't cover the veg, add water so that the veg are covered. If on city water, boil and cool the water first.

Taste after a few days, and every few days after that. When yummy, put in jar in the fridge.

You can add other veg like garlic or chili peppers.

These pickled daikon I made a while back, turned out amazing

Simple kimchi is easy to make. You can make it with other ingredients, or just radish.

I second the recommendation for Katz's book Wild Fermentation. Your local library should have it, if not they SHOULD have it and feel free to tell them I said so.

@Tim Flood. I know you posted a while back but thought I'd share this anyway. We make South Asian style radish (daikon) pickles by following this method. Slice daikon into one or one-and-a-half inch sticks:  a little thicker than fast food French fries. Toss with a few teaspoons of salt to draw out moisture, then arrange on a tray in the sun, or in a food dryer. (Air drying works better than a desiccator for this recipe.) When the radish pieces have shrunk and are dry on the outside, toss with dark mustard oil (cooked oil) which you can find in an Asian grocery store. Add a bit of turmeric, chili powder, and mustard seed that is partially crushed. We throw some seeds into a blender and then add the semi-pulverized seeds. You can also add garlic powder, onion powder and/or Szechuan pepper. Pack tightly into covered jars and place in the sun for a few days running. When the mixture is as sour as you like it, top of spice to taste and add more mustard oil.

Ratna Shakya wrote: Pack tightly into covered jars and place in the sun for a few days running. When the mixture is as sour as you like it, top of spice to taste and add more mustard oil.

Just to clarify for my muzzy brain... Your recipe does not require liquid to be covering the contents of your jars?

@ Jessie: If you pack the jar tightly, pressing down the veggies, the oil and natural liquid will cover most of the vegetables. But this is different from submerging in brine. All the radish is heavily coated in oil and turmeric etc.

Jan White wrote:The recipe posted above looks awesome - Maangchi is always a good bet - and she's got other radish recipes too.  I make her kimchi and her gochujang soup all the time.

I was looking on permies for a Gochujang Recipe and stumbled across this thread. Jan, I was wondering if you made her Gochujang? I found Manngchi’s recipe which makes 16 quarts. I love the stuff but that would last me a life time! Anyhoo, thanks for leading me to her site. I was struggling to find a Gochujang recipe that was authentic.