Sweet & tangy pickled daikon radish recipe with a crisp crunch! Quick & easy to make and requires no heat, just a refrigerator!
Table of Contents
This quick and easy pickled daikon radish recipe was inspired by the ones I love eating at Korean BBQ restaurants, that are served as banchan (little Korean side dishes). They are sweet, have a amazing crunch to them.
I like them so much, I like to hoard the 'all you can eat' banchan (little Korean side dishes) they serve, the pickled daikon radishes ones in particular. I mean who goes to Korean BBQ to eat pickles? Me apparently.
There's something so satisfying about snacking on crispy sweet and sour veggies. My fridge is so full with jars of pickles and condiments, I honestly wonder how I ever have room for anything else in there.
Pickles are not limited to just snacking though, I find them very versatile, here are a few different ways you can use them!
Variations and Few Ways to Use Them
- Add carrots to make them Vietnamese style (Do Chua) - You can add finely julienne carrots and daikon to this recipe to make it a Vietnamese style (Do Chua). They are fantastic on banh mi, banh xeo, sandwiches, hotdogs, and burgers. Just make sure you squeeze out all the liquid before using it.
- Cut them into cubes and use Korean radish to make them into Korean pickled radish (Chicken Mu) - Cut them into small cubes so that they are crunchy and serve them with heavy foods like Korean fried chicken, kalbi (Grilled Korean Short Ribs) or use it as a banchan (Korean side dish). Using a Korean radish, instead of daikon would also give it a crunchier texture.
- Use rice vinegar and a bit of sake and make it Japanese pickled daikon (Tsukemono) - Adding a bit of sake and rice vinegar and chili will make it slightly spicier. I like to have it as a palate cleanser with some sushi or sashimi.
- Use Cucumbers instead - You can use cucumbers if you enjoy the fresh crunch of them!
- I like to serve this tossed in salads or noodles, I even have a watermelon feta salad that uses this pickled daikon which I find adds a nice sweet and tart flavor that balances the saltiness and sweetness from the watermelon and feta.
- You can also add pickled daikon radish to charcuterie platters, tacos, or fresh rice spring rolls.
- Chop it up and mix them into creamy salads (potatoes salads, tuna salads) to break up the heaviness
- Eat them as-is right out of the jar.
Ingredients
For this pickled daikon recipe, you can buy most of the ingredients in your local grocery store. If you cannot find daikon radishes in your local grocery store, you can find them at an Asian grocery store. Make sure you pick out very firm daikon radishes when you are shopping for them. The firmer and less bendy it is, the fresher it is.
Optional: Garlic and Red Chillis. If you like garlicky pickles smash a clove and put it in! If you like spicy pickles add a few chillis in! I left them whole but you can slice them up as well for a more even distribution.
Tips
- Add a slice of beet for pink-colored pickles! A little beet goes a long way, a small slice of it will be more than enough.
- If you like garlicky pickles smash a clove and put it in!
- If you like spicy pickles add a few chillis in! I left them whole but you can slice them up as well for more even distribution of heat.
How to Make It
Pickle Shapes & Sizes
The general rule of thumb is, the thinner you cut your ingredients the faster it will pickle. However, if you plan to keep it overnight anyways then it doesn't really matter how fast it pickles!
I like to cut my daikon into long thicker rectangular shapes for pickling partially because of versatility and it's easy. You can always go from large to small but you can't go backwards.
With the thicker rectangular strips, I can choose to cut these daikon radish pickles into thin slivers for sandwiches when I'm ready to use them or I can cut them into cubes for salads or snacking. If I choose to just eat them straight out of the jar a thicker rectangular cut has a bit more crunch to it as well.
How do you get the bitterness out of daikon?
I salt my radish before I pickle it to remove the bitterness from the daikon radish.
I have noticed that depending on how fresh the white daikon is, you might produce bitter daikon pickles. The more soft and bendy (not fresh) daikon you use, the more bitter your pickles will turn out.
To work around this, since not everyone can control how fresh their daikons are, I have added a salting step to draw out the bitter water out of the daikon before we start pickling it. This extra step is definitely worth it and will give us perfect pickles every time.
How Long Can You Store These Pickled Daikon Radishes?
They can be stored for about 2 months, but they taste best within a month.
More Quick Snacks You May Like
- Toasted Sesame Guacamole
- Lotus Root Chips
- Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Salsa
- Charred Lemon Garlic Edamame
- Roasted Okra
- Miso Eggplant (Nasu Dengaku) with Black Garlic
- Curtido (Salvadoran Pickled Cabbage Slaw)
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Recipe Card
Quick and Easy Pickled Daikon Radish
Recipe Notes
- Add a slice of beet for pink coloured pickles! A little beet goes a long way, a small slice of it will be more than enough.
- You can also add carrots in addition to the daikon radish to this recipe as well.
- If you need more pickle juice, double the pickle juice portion of the recipe
- You can store these for up to 2 months, but they taste best within a month
Ingredients
- 1 small daikon radish
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 clove garlic (Optional)
- 1-2 birdseye chili (Optional)
Vinegar Brine
- ½ cup white vinegar (or rice vinegar)
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons hot water
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
Preparing the Daikon Radish
- Wash and peel the daikon radish
- Cut the daikon radish to the shape you prefer. (thin match sticks, thick sticks or cubes). and put it in a large bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon of salt and massage it into the freshly cut radish. Let the radish sit for 15 minutes while it draws out the bitter water.
- Once 15 minutes is up, rinse the daikon well with cold water and set aside
Making the Brine
- In a separate bowl, mix together all the ingredients under the 'Vinegar Brine' and set aside. Taste the vinegar solution to see if it is sweet or tart enough for your preference.
- (Optional) Peel and smash 1 clove of garlic to flatten it and release the juices and put it in the brine
Putting it Together
- Add the daikon radish into glass jars and cover with vinegar brine until the daikon is fully submerged in it. If you want it garlicky or spicy, add in the optional smashed garlic and whole chili peppers into the jars as well.
- Seal well and let it sit in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours but preferably 24 hours.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Jutta Schneider says
I made the pickled radish once and they are soooo good, thanks for this easy recipe! I wonder if you can reuse the brine for further pickling?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Jutta!
I'm so happy you liked this! I have not tried re-using the brine for this. I don't think radishes create lactic acid like cabbage does so I probably wouldn't try re-using it just to be on the safe side and just create a new batch. Lactic acid, which is created naturally by brining cabbage, is a natural preservative 😊
Yushan says
Omg this is so so good!! I made it and put it including my fridge for 48 hours, then took it out and ate it, it’s tastes so good! I feel like they taste is fully fermented in the radish because I cut the slices small. Omg this is definitely a recipe I would want to teach my kids as well!! Thank you!!
Just a quick question, after all the radishes are eaten, can i re-use the juice, and just slice more fresh radishes and put it in the same juice and continue using the juice from before? Around how many times can I re-use the juice?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Yushan!
I'm so happy you enjoyed it! I hope your kids have fun with it! I definitely have a lot of fun with it! 😊
Hmm...That is a good question! I probably wouldn't re-use the juice for another batch of radishes just to be on the safe side. Only because once you put in a vegetable, the salt and vinegar draws out the vegetable moisture out of it and it waters down the brine slightly.
Aurial says
mine came out pretty good but still bitter. Any suggestions?
Joyce says
Hi Aurial!
I am so happy you tried this and enjoyed it!
As for the bitterness, I would probably let in sit in the salt for longer next time. I find that the salt draws out a lot of the liquid out of the turnips which has all the bitter flavor. So the longer you let it sit with the salt on it, the more it will draw out. Make sure to also massage the salt into the turnip in the beginning so that the salt is on every surface area. Oh! and make sure to rinse the salt out well once you have soaked it so that the pickles aren't super salty - you want the pickles to be on the sweeter side.
Hope that helps! 🙂
Joyce
Veronica says
Thanks for sharing! I love the daikon radish and I want to try your recipe, I dont want to add sugar in the brine (I have a diabetic person in my family). Does the recipe work without sugar?
Joyce says
Hi Veronica!
This recipe might be a bit strong without the sugar to balance out the strong acidic flavor from the vinegar and it might not be very tasty. If you do decide to try it without the sugar, add a teaspoon of salt to the vinegar and dilute the brine a little water but keep it mind the pickle will be very sour. 🙁 Wish I could help more!
JUdy says
Keep in mind how many servings this is and you will find that per serving, there may actually be very little sugar. Most diabetics can take a little as long as it is balanced out with a full meal
Tyffanie says
Thanks for sharing! I just made some with my first ever daikon radish. How long do these last in the refrigerator??
Joyce says
Hi Tyffanie!
I'm always happy to share!
You should be able to store these in the fridge for up 2 months, but they taste best within a month. 🙂 Just a heads up, they are very smelly and pungent when you open the jar up! 😀 haha
Hope you like them!
Joyce
Shannon @loveatfirstbento says
I just love all the little details you delve into for each post/recipe - it's so helpful and illuminating, and really makes me feel like I can make the recipe with ease! I also love pickles - will have to try them on top of noodle dishes, like you suggested, as I've never thought of that before. I also like the idea of adding in some garlic, I bet that's uber delicious!
Can't wait to try this one out! It'll make for a great addition to my bento boxes 🙂
PS: I tried subscribing via your subscribe box in the sidebar, and it kept saying I had an invalid email 🙁 I'm going to try subscribing through the comment now, but just thought I'd let you know.
Joyce says
Ahh I'm so happy you enjoy the recipes! 🙂 I enjoy sharing it, especially the tidbits where I screw up so people don't go down that path haha 🙂
Your bentos are so cute! Hope they you like them! 🙂
Thanks for letting me know about the subscribe box. I took a look at it, hopefully it's back to normal now.
Shannon @loveatfirstbento says
No problem Joyce! Keep up the fantastic work 😀
And thank you so much! I'll let you know if I ever post a picture of a bento with your yummy pickles in it 😉
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
ahh i love quick pickles!!! they're so tasty, and i love them with everything or nothing (sometimes i munch on them plain). normally i make mine w plain white vinegar, because it's a bit more acidic (aka i get to eat pickles faster!), but rice vinegar pickles sound delicious too :3
Joyce says
Same here! I already finished my batch! Just munching on it while watching tv haha!