DAIKON (also white radish, Asian radish, lobak, moo, mooli)

No matter where you go in Asia, radishes are a serious staple, enjoyed at nearly every meal in their raw, cooked, and/or pickled form. The large, white Asian radish with a crisp, juicy, white flesh is probably best-known in the U.S. by its Japanese name, daikon, literally, “large root.” Indeed, the Sakurajima variety can weigh as much as 60 pounds-but the more radish, the more you can do with it.

Raw daikon can be grated, slivered, diced, or sliced to add its crunch and zip to relishes and salads. For salads, thin-sliced daikon is especially good with carrot and sesame-the toasted seeds or the oil. Stir-fried daikon slices, strips, or cubes are turnipy-sweet. Daikon in miso soup is mild and delicious. To prepare, simply peel the skin as you would a carrot and cut into whatever style your recipe idea calls for.

The following recipes come from Masako Takayasu, who hosted an “East Meets Midwest” Japanese cooking demonstration as a fundraiser for The Land Connection Foundation in central Illinois. Her daikon salads were one of the major hits of the evening. She urges us not to forget the daikon greens, which are very high in calcium, iron, and vitamin C-and also taste terrific.

East Meets West Daikon Salad

10 oz daikon
1 Tablespoon salt
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (any kind, but sharper is better)
Thin-sliced prosciutto, dried scallops, or canned tuna

1. Cut daikon into matchstick-sized pieces and place in strainer. Sprinkle with salt and mix thoroughly. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Water will drain out of the daikon, so place the strainer over a bowl.

2. When the daikon has become limp, rinse under water to remove the salt. Then squeeze the daikon to remove as much water as possible.

3. Mix daikon with the prosciutto or seafood. Combine mayonnaise, soy sauce and mustard powder in a bowl and then fold into the daikon salad.

Stir-Fried Daikon Greens

1 lb. daikon greens
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 - 3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon dashinomoto

1. Mix sugar, soy sauce, mirin,and dashinomoto in the water.

2. Chop daikon leaves finely. Heat oil in pan and add leaves. Stir-fry until wilted. Add water with seasonings and cook until liquid is gone, stirring frequently.

3. Add sesame seeds and serve over rice.

Selection Tips

Daikon are available year-round, but the fall roots are the most flavorful. Try to find daikon with the greens still on-this will reveal how recently the root was pulled, and will also give you the healthful greens. If you cannot find the root with greens, then choose roots with smooth, firm skins. The size of the root does not have any bearing on the taste, so you can choose based on the size you need for your recipe. Any extra can always be chunked up in a quick stir fry or soup.

Nutritional Highlights

Daikon are extremely low in calories-about 10 per 1/2 cup. They also have a small amount of vitamin C and trace minerals.

BURDOCK ROOT (Gobo)

Burdock root definitely falls into the "can’t judge a book …" category of vegetables. The humble exterior of the large, dark, woody-looking root belies the sweet, nutty, delicate, crunchy flesh within. Although its bark-like skin looks thick, it is actually tissue-paper-thin, able to be scraped away with a fingernail or light scrubbing.

I first encountered burdock as a food during my sojourn in Japan during the 1980s. Although the plant grows throughout Europe and North America, it had, until very recently, been cultivated only in Japan. It is now cultivated here and there throughout the United States, but its consumption is still more or less confined to those on a macrobiotic diet. Only now are we re-discovering what the Iroquois and other Native Americans knew-and what the Japanese still know- that burdock is a delicious and nutritious and even a healing root vegetable.

Burdock’s flavor is subtle and very much its own. Descriptions of flavors invariably fall short, but I have heard burdock described as "a combination of salsify and artichoke," or as having "a sweet, earthy flavor with a tender-crisp texture," or, my favorite, "it tastes just like burdock." I have done extensive experimentation and come up with all sorts of burdock recipes, ranging from soups to chips to breakfast rolls. But, for novices, I recommend starting with the tried and traditional-the most common burdock dish in Japan (and hence in the world) is kimpira gobo. This is Hiroko Kinoshita’s recipe.

Kimpira Gobo

1 lb. burdock
1/2 lb. carrot
1-3 togarashi or Thai hot peppers
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon mirin
3 -4 Tablespoons soy sauce
sesame seeds, to taste
1 - 2 Tablespoons oil

1. Rub burdock with the back of a knife to remove skin. Cut into 1-1/2-inch lengths and then slice into matchstick-sized pieces.
Let soak in cold water for several minutes and then drain. 2. Peel and slice carrot into matchstick-sized pieces.
3. Cut off top of hot peppers and remove seeds. Slice into thin rounds.
4. Heat oil in frying pan or wok and add burdock and carrot. Stir-fry over high heat for about three minutes.
5. Add sugar, mirin and soy sauce. Sprinkle hot pepper and sesame seeds. Continue to cook until liquid is gone, stirring frequently.

Selection Tips

If possible, find roots that look and smell freshly-dug. This means the roots are turgid, not limp or dried out, and a sniff where you scrape a fingernail over the surface should yield a sweet, earthy aroma. However, if you can only find limp burdock, the taste will still be good and the turgidity will return if you soak the slices in cold water.

Nutritional Highlights

Burdock can be termed a health food simply by virtue of its high fiber and low calorie content. It is also a very good source of potassium and a moderate source of iron and calcium. (In 1/2 cup of the fresh root there are 180 mg of phosphorus, 50 mg of calcium, 58 mg of phosphorus, 1.4 mg of iron, 0.03 mg of thiamine and 0.05 mg of riboflavin.) But perhaps the most unique aspect of the root is its very high amount of inulin, a naturally occuring phytochemical that mimics the actions of insulin. According to one source, from 27% to 45% of the root is inulin and some people have found it an effective food to control hypo-glycemia and pre-diabetes conditions.

Asian Turnip (Tokyo turnip, Kabura)

We’re not talking about the tough, woody roots that many Westerners deem fit only for pig fodder. No, Asian turnips are tender, sweet, crunchy delights. They are more like a mild radish and can be eaten raw-plain, or with a vegetable dip, or in a salad. They are also excellent pickled, roasted, sautéed, or boiled in soups.

Turnips are one of the earliest vegetables under cultivation. They are thought to have originated in northern Europe around 2000 BC. They were an important food for the Romans, especially before their Empire spread far and wide, bringing in a huge variety of new foodstuffs. The turnip spread from the classical world through Asia to northern China, where it soon became a staple. It was taken from China to Japan about 1,300 years ago. The Chinese have traditionally cooked turnips by roasting, perhaps because the high temperature increases the sweetness. The Japanese and Koreans pickle many of their turnips, and also boil them.

Asian Turnips with Thin-Sliced Fried Tofu

2 lbs Asian turnips (kabura)
5 cups water
2 tsp. dashinomoto
1/4 cup or less soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1 package thin-sliced fried tofu

1. Peel turnips and cut into bite-sized pieces.

2. Place fried tofu into boiling water and boil for about a minute. Remove and cut into four squares and then cut squares diagonally to make triangles.

3. Mix water and dashinomoto, soy sauce and mirin with the turnips and tofu and boil gently over low heat for at least one hour.

4. The boiling liquid can then be used to boil other greens, such as mizuna or daikon greens.

Selection Tips Look for Asian turnips with the greens still on. If the greens are crisp and blemish-free, you’ll know the vegetable is fresh. The greens are extremely high in calcium and vitamins A and C and so are an added bonus. If you cannot find the root with greens, then choose roots with smooth, firm skins. The taste and texture is good up until about a softball-sized root.

Nutritional Highlights

Turnips were well known historically for their health benefits. Dioskorides, in around 500 A.D., discussed the turnip in terms of its medical properties. As a member of the Brassica family, turnips are high in vitamins A and C, indoles, calcium and other minerals.

GINGER (jeung, shoga, khing)

Whole books could be written, indeed have been written, on ginger. Bruce Cost tells the fascinating history and various culinary uses of ginger in his book Ginger East to West. . . .

Suffice it to say that ginger is not technically a root, but a rhizome, and that the knobby rhizome is well-known and loved for its pungent, cleansing taste and its digestive properties. Ginger is used throughout Asia. The tan skin is usually peeled away and then it is grated, sliced, or chopped. In China, it is often used in fish dishes. The Japanese often pickle it and serve it as a palate-cleanser with sushi. The Burmese soak it in lime juice and serve it as an after-dinner digestive. In fact, ginger is known as good for digestion throughout Asia, and ginger teas and ginger beers are served from India to the Philippines.

Green Beans with Garlic and Ginger
(adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s World of the East Vegetarian Cooking ,Knopf, 2000)

2 1/2 pounds fresh green beans
1 Tb. plus 1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 tsp. black mustard seeds
8-9 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch cube fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
3 Tb ground roasted sesame seeds
4 Tb chopped fresh cilantro
dash of black pepper and/or cayenne pepper
1 Tb lemon juice

1. Trim the beans and snap into 1-inch pieces. 2. Put 4 quarts of water in a pot. Add 1 Tb. salt and bring to a boil Add the beans and boil 4-5 minutes until tender-crisp. Drain and rinse beans in cold water.

3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. As soon as they begin to pop, add the garlic and stir.

4. When the garlic begins to brown, add the ginger and stir once. Add the beans and the sesame seeds, cilantro, peppers , lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp salt. Turn heat to low and mix well. When the beans are heated through, serve immediately.

Selection Tips

Look for ginger with a smooth, unwrinkled skin. Wrinkles mean that the ginger has begun to dry out and it may be woody inside. If you see pink tips, you know the ginger is young and fresh. Mature ginger is fine, but it has a stronger flavor and you may wish to use less than a recipe calls for.

Nutritional Highlights

Ginger continues to be highly regarded for its culinary value and medicinal value far more than for any nutritional value, Cultivated for millennia in India and China, the medicinal value of ginger has been well-documented. It has been valued largely for its positive effects on the digestive system. Ginger also contains a natural anti-inflammatory and can be used to relieve pain from any inflammation.

Terra Brockman is a writer, editor, publisher, and nonprofit organizer who lives in central Illinois. She first encountered a genuine Asian cuisine when she lived in Japan from 1985-1990. She expanded her culinary horizons in New York City from 1990-1998. Since then she has been a freelance writer and editor, while working on her brother's organic farm where many Asian vegetables are grown. More information on the farm and the nonprofit may be found at www.henrysfarm.com and www.thelandconnection.org