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    Home » Recipes » Asian Recipes

    Quick & Easy Pickled Daikon Radish

    Oct 10, 2018 • Author: Joyce • 16 Comments • This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    5 from 5 votes

    Sweet & tangy pickled daikon radish recipe with a crisp crunch! Quick & easy to make and requires no heat, just a refrigerator!

    Juilenne pickled daikon radish with a bit of red chili on top and some parsley on the side.
    Table of Contents
    • Variations and Few Ways to Use Them
    • Ingredients
    • Tips
    • How to Make It
    • How Long Can You Store These Pickled Daikon Radishes?
    • More Quick Snacks You May Like
    • Recipe Card

    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.

    Quick Pickled Daikon Radish

    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.

    Quick Pickled Daikon Radish

    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

    Quick Pickled Daikon Radish

    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!

    Quick Pickled Daikon Radish chopped in 3 different shapes, thinly julienne, cubed and long thick strips.

    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.

    Salting The Daikon To Remove The Bitterness

    How Long Can You Store These Pickled Daikon Radishes?

    They can be stored for about 2 months, but they taste best within a month.

    Quick Pickled Daikon Radish

    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)

    If you like my recipes and want to be updated on when new ones come out, please consider subscribing to my newsletter (we don't spam) and follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for all of my latest recipes!

    Recipe Card

    Juilenne pickled daikon radish with a bit of red chili on top and some parsley on the side.

    Quick and Easy Pickled Daikon Radish

    Sweet and tangy pickled daikon radish recipe with a crisp crunch! Quick and easy to make and requires no heat, just a refrigerator!
    Print Pin Rate Save Recipe Saved!
    Course: Appetizer, Condiments, Side
    Cuisine: Asian
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    1 Jar
    5 from 5 votes

    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
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    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

    Serving: 1Jar | Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 1g | Sodium: 4006mg | Sugar: 48g

    *Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*

    Did you try this recipe?I'd love to hear from you! Let me know how it was and consider giving it a rating! Tag me on Instagram with @pupswithchopsticks to show me!
    Made with ♡ by Joyce | Pups with Chopsticks

    Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. While I appreciate the support - please try to buy your items locally if possible to support your local shops (chances are they are cheaper locally as well!) 🙂

    More Asian Recipes

    • Chinese Scrambled Eggs and Shrimp
    • Chinese Stir-Fried Ketchup Shrimp
    • Miso Butter
    • Canh Chua (Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Soup)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jutta Schneider says

      October 17, 2020 at 2:12 am

      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?

      Reply
      • Joyce Lee says

        November 24, 2020 at 2:42 pm

        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 😊

        Reply
    2. Yushan says

      April 01, 2020 at 10:37 pm

      5 stars
      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?

      Reply
      • Joyce Lee says

        April 14, 2020 at 8:57 am

        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.

        Reply
    3. Aurial says

      November 19, 2019 at 12:35 pm

      5 stars
      mine came out pretty good but still bitter. Any suggestions?

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        November 21, 2019 at 3:35 pm

        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

        Reply
    4. Veronica says

      July 06, 2019 at 9:40 am

      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?

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        July 08, 2019 at 7:13 am

        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!

        Reply
        • JUdy says

          August 27, 2019 at 6:33 pm

          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

          Reply
    5. Tyffanie says

      January 16, 2019 at 8:40 pm

      Thanks for sharing! I just made some with my first ever daikon radish. How long do these last in the refrigerator??

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        January 17, 2019 at 12:19 pm

        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

        Reply
    6. Shannon @loveatfirstbento says

      October 19, 2017 at 11:08 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        October 23, 2017 at 12:17 pm

        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.

        Reply
        • Shannon @loveatfirstbento says

          October 23, 2017 at 12:22 pm

          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 😉

          Reply
    7. heather (delicious not gorgeous) says

      May 08, 2017 at 3:17 pm

      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

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        May 09, 2017 at 11:08 am

        Same here! I already finished my batch! Just munching on it while watching tv haha!

        Reply

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