Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Mystery Vegetable


When I unloaded my last CSA crate, I found this long white thing that looked like either a white carrot or an albino phallus. Not having the slightest idea what it was, I called Food Matters (where we have a CSA membership) to inquire. “It’s a daikon,” the person said.

Never having purchased such a vegetable, I immediately Googled DAIKON to find out what to do with it. You can grate it in salads. You can saute daikon slices in sesame oil. You can make a great stock using daikon.

Yesterday we were making dinner for a person in Temple Micah who is recovering from a badly broken leg. I was in charge of couscous and fruit crisp. So I decided to work in part of a daikon.
But first I have to tell you about something I brought back from Penzey’s Spice House in Chicago. I bought it after asking each employee what their favorite product was and then promptly buying a sample of everything they mentioned. “Silk Road Seasoning” drew great accolades. Here’s what the label says:

In honor of Silk Road Chicago, Summer 2006. The historic Silk Road trade route ran from East Asia to India and the Mediterranean from about 100 B.C. until 1500 A.D. This seasoning was hand blended by The Spice House to commemorate the spices found along the Silk Road. Ginger is the number one ingredient, but it also includes: black pepper, cassia cinnamon, cardamom, mustard powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt and sugar.

Here’s my made-up couscous recipe:

½ large daikon, cut into small cubes
1 carrot, cut into small cubes
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup Israeli couscous (large grained couscous)
Small onion, chopped
Garlic clove, minced
½ sweet red pepper, chopped
Lemon olive oil
Silk Road seasoning
Borsari salt

Cook daikon and carrot in chicken broth until soft, about 15 minutes. Add couscous, cover, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until couscous is soft and broth is absorbed. Sprinkle lightly with Borsari salt and return the cover. Meanwhile saute onion, garlic, and sweet red pepper in a small amount of lemon olive oil. Add 1-2 teaspoons of Silk Road seasoning. Cook for another minute and then add to the couscous mixture.

I will soon be ordering a bottle of Silk Road Seasoning since my 1 ounce isn’t going to last long. Definitely love it! And so did our friend Ellen with the broken leg.

12 Comments:

Blogger bulletholes said...

I never really heard of making a stock with it, but I like it real well as a Stir Fry Ingredient.
I also like it as an ingredient for a cold salsa or compote, used as a toppuing for say...Grilled Chicken Breast. Adds a nice crunch....think like a pineapple-Mango Pico deGallo with some of this in it to provide a contrasting crunch with the fruit!

We also used it a lot for making flower dedcorations for centerpieces.

Hello,Daikon!

9:49 AM  
Blogger Steve Reed said...

You are right-on with your couscous recipe. In Morocco, we used to eat couscous containing a common vegetable that I always believed to be a Daikon radish, though some people called it a turnip. That veggie was all over the place, and it was one of my favorites. (I think the Berbers used to call it "terkmeen," if I remember right.)

10:15 AM  
Blogger Kate said...

I am always crazy about your recipes and print them out. They are in my recipe box under "Barbara" :)

Frank always bought daikon radishes since we preferred them to the red ones since they gave the same effect to salads but without the gastric effect of red ones. But I never cooked it. I will definitely try this recipe, as I do most of your!

Thanks.

10:42 AM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Bulletholes -- I am going to try my remaining 1-1/2 daikons in some different recipes just to see how versatile this veggie is!

Steve -- It does work well in couscous because it doesn't collapse and get mushy with cooking.

Kate -- I think you are one of the few people who take my cooking seriously. I'm so happy you are enjoying these home-grown recipes!

12:00 PM  
Blogger Kristin said...

I haven't tried it yet! I thought about roasting one with other root veggies but maybe I'll toss one with carrots and broccoli into quinoa.

Then, again, I'm not very good at making my own recipes.

12:04 PM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Kristin -- I like your idea with the quinoa. Let me know how it turns out.

12:17 PM  
Blogger Mo said...

Ooh, I can't wait to try your couscous recipe! It sounds delish :)

7:26 PM  
Blogger Kellyann Brown said...

One of the Japanese women that I used to work with brought in some stir-fried daikon radish... it was ok, nothing to write home about. My darling Dr. R. was reading your post over my shoulder... "Cooking 2 live" he read. I said, "no, it's LOOKING to live." He insisted that it was COOKING. (As usual, I was right, but I didn't rub it in)

2:14 AM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Kellyann -- Hmmm...Cooking2live sounds like a great Blog name. Why didn't I think of that? :)

7:09 AM  
Blogger bulletholes said...

Hah! i need to strt a new blog called
"Hooking to Live"
Wonder what that'll be about!

9:51 AM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Bulletholes -- Fishing? :)

9:56 AM  
Blogger Kellyann Brown said...

::Laugh::: good one, Barbara!

9:00 PM  

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