Posts Tagged ‘daikon’
Home-style Banh mi
I’m lucky enough to have friends and marriage partners that are really great cooks, bakers and sometime both.
Over the weekend, one such friend helped deplete my daikon radish reserve with Vietnamese sandwiches, also known as Banh Mi.
It really wasn’t that difficult once the ingredients were gathered — and they were DELICIOUS.
1) Start with a good baguette. These came from Lee’s Sandwiches. 1 baguette for $1 makes about 3 sandwiches.
2) Slice the baguette in half and slather on some butter or mayo.
3) Add in no particular order:
- Cilantro
- Jalapeno
- Onion
- Pickled daikon and carrot
4) Add the meat. She picked up the BBQ pork at Phoenix Palace in Chandler, which she also claims to have delicious dim sum. (We had enough left over to freeze for future noodle soups).
Tip: For vegetarians, we substituted baked tofu, which they said was pretty good.
Harvesting daikon
I first planted my daikon (aka Japanese radishes) in mid-October…and waited.
First, they sprouted, then I could see bits of radish under the dirt. Eventually they emerged from the gound about an inch or 2. Later, one started growing what appeared to be a flower. Hmmmm…
So when is the proper time to harvest a radish?
You might think there’d be loads of information on such topic, but you’d be wrong. Google searches provided precious little about proper daikon harvesting. Luckily a Gardening Examiner had some good information:
“Radish roots tell you when they’re mature by the root top bulging above soil level. Some radishes are “runts” and won’t get as big as their neighbors no matter how long you leave them there: if it’s bulging it’s probably not going to get much bigger. No matter how big you’re letting them get, if you want to eat the root you’ll need to pick it before it bolts. Watch the leaves to see when this is starting to happen: instead of new baby leaves in the center of the mature leaves, you’ll see a tiny stalk forming. This means that it’s starting to bolt: pull it out quick and eat it, or it will be too late!”
Shoot — it’s harvest time.
In my readings, I learned about daikon pests: flea beetles & cabbage root maggots. Lovely.
Luckily mine were pest-free. The largest measuring 12 inches (See boot pic).
