The Best 15 Daikon Radish Dishes

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No matter what you call it, the white Daikon radish is delicious raw, or cooked. It’s a curiously long white root that’s often used in pickled salads and is a favorite in Japanese and Asian dishes.

It can also be found in Indian and Pakistani dishes. For most people, it’s not so common to find a Diakon radish recipe on the menu. But if you’re curious to try it for the first time, it will taste similar to red radishes with a less spicy aftertaste.

When they are cooked or baked, this is when subtle flavors come through and develop more into how turnip tastes.

Since Daikon radish has the natural ability to absorb marinades and sauces, it simply makes this radish taste much better.

Aside from the Kimchi-style pickled salads, we’ve put together 15 of the best daikon radish recipes that will get your attention!

Spicy Roasted Daikon French Fries

Unlike your typical potato that’s fried in hot oil and becomes a great side dish with any meal, daikon fries are going to be a different experience. This dish is roasted rather than fried and allows the daikon radish to take on a crispy crust rather than your average French fry. It’s also using grapeseed oil which has a higher tolerance to being baked in the oven. But what set these French fries off are the ground chili peppers, ground ginger, and soy sauce flavor.

These fries are just the right amount of sweet and spicy with a soft delicate texture you’ll want to have with any meaty dish. This isn’t exclusively a stand-alone dish but you might consider adding other extras to round out this recipe further. Because they’re so easy to make, you might want to try your own variations of spices to give your daikon French fries have a signature flavor.

Summer Steak Rolls

If you’ve been waiting for a good reason to grill your flat iron steaks, this is the perfect recipe that combines a little bit of everything. These steak rolls are similar to spring rolls except they aren’t fried so all of the ingredients stay nice and crisp. You get lots of cool crunchy flavors including carrots and daikon radish strips in every bite with creamy peanut butter and spicy Sriracha sauce.

No matter how you grill your steak, it’s best to serve these strips after they cool down to allow all of the flavors to mingle when you build your rolls. What you get is a chilled summertime meal that is perfect for hot days or nights that add just a bit of flavorful spice. Instead of the recommended wrap around these steak rolls, you can also consider using a pita or perhaps tortillas to wraps these up so they’re easier to handle.

Roasted Pork Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich)

This isn’t the average hoagie that you might order at the corner deli but is a lot closer to enjoying everything you love about a French bread sandwich with loads of flavor. It just so happens that this exotic sandwich features a delicate blend of slightly pickled carrots and daikon radish slivers with a soft French bread roll filled with thinly sliced roasted pork. There’s just enough sweetness and spice to make this an excellent entry for any meal.

Even if you’re not a fan of Vietnamese-style food, you might be surprised by the variety of flavors that make this an instant favorite. It’s perfect for lunch or dinner and is a big plus if you like to grill your pork outdoors on the grill for added smokiness. It’s also a big plus if you buy half-baked rolls that you finish in your oven to get the best results of freshly baked soft roll bread. Try grilling each half on a flat grill for extra flavor where you’ve cooked the pork.

Asian Salmon Wrap 

Sometimes you just don’t feel like the average burrito or food wrap that comes from those trendy food trucks. This version of Japanese-American cuisine doesn’t get any better when you mix simple ingredients that don’t take much to prepare ahead of time. While you could use canned salmon, try this with a slab of freshly seared salmon fillet for friends and family the next time you have a get-together.

All the things you love about sushi are put into the category of would you like to Super Size’ that? This salmon wrap makes every bite one more reason to make this one of your instant favorites to bookmark. You could easily buy smaller tortilla wraps for this but you might consider buying burrito-sized tortilla wraps to maximize this meal. This will be very appealing when these are chilled and sliced before being served.

Stir-Fried Japanese Ginger Pork 

For those of you who enjoy making stir fry, this dish is versatile in many ways since you can add more veggies as you like. It already comes with daikon radish and onion, but you can essentially add what you like to give this stir fry a personal touch. Add this to a bowl of fried rice to accompany this warm and satisfying dish for any occasion. If you don’t own a wok, any hot skillet will do the trick to fry your pork strips just right.

What makes this dish stand out is using a bit of sake (rice wine) to punch up the flavor of the fresh ginger and garlic. Even if it’s not quite sweater weather outside, this delicious recipe is welcome any time of the year. Alternatively, you can enjoy this with Chinese fried noodles with a few more handy ingredients that you want to add.

Beef Pho

Who says there isn’t room for soup when a nice hot bowl of Beef Pho is just the comfort food that makes everyone feel satisfied! Even though you might not be able to get your hands on some Oxtail are beef short ribs or perhaps some beef shank. The real treat in this soup is the thinly sliced beef sirloin strips that compliment your rice noodles and savory aromatic soup.

You’ll be pleasantly happy with adding daikon radish slices into this dish which gives this Pho soup recipe added subtle texture and flavor. The real secret is getting as much flavor from Oxtail or even beef knuckle if it’s available. It’s going to take a little bit of time to braze your meat to extract the flavors off the bone, so be patient if you want your beef pho turning out with more flavor as gristle and marrow flavors give you a richer beef stock.

Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs

This isn’t the same tire meatballs that your grandmother used to make which is another reason to try this mouth-watering daikon radish recipe just for fun. Most of us are still wondering what to do with ground chicken at the supermarket, but this recipe will change all that. Once you see how much the texture and flavor change adding Shiitake mushrooms, daikon radish, and fresh ginger will create the ultimate flavor bomb.

What really makes this dish more tempting is the teriyaki sauce that will simply seduce your taste buds even further. Serve this as a stand-alone entrée before your main course or add some delicate side to these succulent meatballs! On a side note, you can also serve these meatballs inside a sandwich roll instead of separately served meatballs. You can also make them slightly smaller and serve them in toothpicks as finger foods within a snack platter.

Korean Tofu Vegetable Soup

Forget about making chicken noodle soup on those humdrum days- when you can take your soup game to the next level. You might not be overly enthusiastic about tofu, but with all of the veggies and distinctly Korean flavors in a single large bowl, you can’t go wrong. Imagine the melody of flavors including yellow squash, Napa cabbage, green onions, daikon radish, garlic, and soybean paste.

We don’t often look at soup being a hearty meal yet vegetable soup is the go-to cure for nearly anything that fixes a simple need to feel filled. In the tradition of Korean soups, you’ll swear this vegetable soup is a lot closer to the soothing flavors you’ve enjoyed growing up with. Be sure to get the firm tofu that will hold more of its shape when served in this soup. This makes it possible to grill sear your tofu to get a different texture.

Easy Pan Fried Daikon Radish Buns 

More than your average spring roll and tastier than the typical dumpling, these vegetarian pan-fried daikon radish buns are superb additions to any meal plate. These take a little bit of work to mix the dough and add your veggie ingredients, but the result is a light and crispy flavor package to salivate over. These are wonderful to enjoy as serving snacks at your next lunch party or accompanied with a main dish that brings in some meaty entrée.

Luckily, this recipe covers every step to ensure that you’re doing it right and gives extra tips on making these radish buns even better. Perhaps you might take it one step further by adding small pork cubes or chicken strips to fill these buns further. Since they’re not deep-fried, you don’t have a bun that is soaked in too much oil which could ruin the overall taste. Try using an air fryer with your buns that are coated with oil for a crispier coating.

Vegan Bahn Mi 

If you’re vegan or not, here is a meaty-tasting dish that contains no meat whatsoever. It actually is using Tempeh that adds a distinctly earthy and nutty flavor that you decide to add into this intricate veggie bowl. The rest is more than a standard collective of salad ingredients and features Shiitake mushrooms, daikon radish, minced shallots, crushed garlic, cucumber, pickled carrot, and jalapeno peppers.

The dramatic flavors added to the Tempeh that’s been allowed to marinate in this amazing sauce will perk up your taste buds right away. But to enjoy this non-meat dish, you’ll enjoy some fresh baguette slices to go along with this sultry Bahn Mi meat-free salad. If you want to substitute the Tempeh for real meat, there is no shame in enjoying this dish with all your meaty favorites. Don’t forget to marinate this meat in the marinade to get the full effect.

Curried Stuffed Acorn Squash

Not many people are willing to admit they’re big fans of acorn squash, but the truth is that the number of recipes including this delicious seasonal gourd. Now, when you add some curry, red bell pepper, daikon radish, leek, collard greens, and a generous portion of feta cheese, you’ve got all the ingredients of a real power lunch! Now imagine how a baked potato is prepared and this recipe variant immediately blows the doors right off!

This single-serve dish is rich and nutty and will fill the need for several memorable flavors that can be enjoyed in a single spoonful. This can also be further modified if you want to substitute some ingredients to create richer flavors or subtle undernotes as you like. Since this is so easy to prepare, you’ll want to add this to your list of acorn squash recipes or share it with friends who are just now hearing about acorn squash.

Roasted Daikon Radish, Carrots, and Peppers

Not every dish is going to be your average melody of veggies and this one is certainly a top recipe for being a side dish. No matter what meat you prepare next to this, these flavors will complement chicken, pork, steak, and fish. If you decide to be daring enough, you can add these roasted veggies into your main dish all the same. The sheer versatility of how simple this recipe is will create a dynamic taste that you only get with daikon radish.

It’s really the sweetness of your red bell pepper and earthy sweet carrots that pop in your mouth. Since this is roasted in any conventional oven, this bakes each piece through and through making it adaptable for all dinner meals and afternoon lunches. Now if you decide that these veggies should go into a casserole or pot pie, you might have discovered a more versatile genius that will be an instant classic for you and your family.

Simmered Daikon Radish with Chichen and Yuzu Sauce

Many daikon radish recipes only add a small portion of radish within the entire dish, yet this recipe takes advantage of this radish’s flavor through and through. There is just as much radish packed into this meal as there is chicken, making it a great blend of veggie and meat combined together. If you’ve never experienced Yuzu sauce, it’s a wonderful blend of coconut aminos that give the overall flavor a refreshingly citrus taste.

There aren’t many ingredients to make this savory meal and is perfect to eat no matter which season it happens to be. To create even more flavor that will be a great additive, you can prepare half daikon radish and half turnip. Though you should use chicken breast, try some free-range chicken for a stronger chicken flavor. In a pinch, you might also consider trying grilled turkey breast instead.

Five-Spice Short Rib and Daikon Soup

Here’s yet another hearty soup recipe that includes super-tasty short rib beef with nice chunks of daikon radish to top it off. It gets the name 5-spice from the collection of secret spices that are added to give this broth some much-deserved mouth-watering appeal. Not to forget that there’s onion, garlic, ginger, bay leaf, cilantro, and a few other seasonings added into this unselfish soup.

If you aren’t too crazy about adding the recommended MSG, you can always swap this out for something else. You won’t find any noodles in this soup dish but if you like a little more texture added, there’s no harm in including some egg or rice noodles to add more appeal. And though the short rib name might sound deceiving, make no mistake that this soup will be just as filling with generous chunks of short rib meat.

Salmon Roasted with Marinated Daikon Radish

It goes without saying that salmon is healthy for your heart, but the fastest way to enjoy a meal is straight to your stomach. With this being said, there is something about roasted salmon that is more than a comfort food when you pair this with marinated daikon radish recipe. The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure that your salmon is fresh as can since this meal will have better results when the salmon is fresh.

And though the marinated radish is still just a side dish to your salmon, it still features prominent perky flavors that will enhance each bite. The rice vinegar Sichuan pepper and sesame oil give just enough boost as any squeeze of lemon would for the salmon meat among the lingering taste of freshly chopped scallions mixed in. You can alternatively grill your salmon on a BBQ to get the real smoky flavors grilled in.