Fermented Spicy Daikon Radish Spears
I love fermenting daikon radish and other radishes because they tend to acquire a very nice sourness while retaining enough of their toothy crunch to satisfy our sensate (much better than “sin sick”) souls. I’m also a fan of adding a little heat with some Korean Red Pepper flakes, although this recipe is reasonably mild.
Once I bottled these up and refrigerated them, I left them in the refrigerator for several months before digging them out and trying them again. The long slow cool ferment added a ton of flavor and made these even more delectable. Update: after a few years of letting some of these stew in their own brine in the refrigerator, they became yet more amazingly sour. Like that roller coaster ride you hoped would never end when you were a kid, I savored these until this amazing fermented ride came to an end and the jar, alas, emptied out!
Fermented Spicy Daikon Radish Spears
Ingredients
- 1 lb daikon radishes cut into spears (approx 1/2″ thick x 3″ long)
- Brine of 2 Tablespoons sea salt and 2 cups water
- 2 Tablespoons Red pepper powder (I used Korean red pepper flakes as described in my Traditional Korean kimchi recipe)
Instructions
- Clean the Daikon - Clean the daikon by scrubbing lightly under running water. In order to allow some of the beneficial bacteria naturally found on the daikon to remain for the fermentation, you want them cleaned well but not scrubbed to an immaculate finish.
- Prepare the daikon - Cut the daikon into spears, approximately 1/2″ thick by about 3″ long.
- Prepare the brine - Dissolve the sea salt into the water to make a brine
- Place in fermenting vessel - Place everything including the Korean red pepper flakesin a 1 gallon jar or fermentation crock or a 1/2 gallon Mason Jar topped with an airlock.
- Top with a weight - Due to the salt in the water which breaks down some of the cell walls, additional water will leach from the daikon. Place a weight of some sort on the veggies to keep pressure on them and to encourage the liquid level to rise above the veggies. If you are using a glass jar, I’ve been using a clear plastic produce bag with about 1 quart of water in it as a weight. Make sure the bag doesn’t leak before using it. I learned that the hard way! It’s important when sealing the bag to leave some looseness in the bag rather than filling it tightly with air. The looseness will allow the bag to settle and conform to the shape of the fermenting vessel, thus making a perfect seal which keeps air out but allows gasses to escape as needed. If using a mason jar with an airlock, you can use these weights which I recommend.
- Cover - cover in a way which allows gasses to escape.
- Wait Impatiently - Let it sit for 4 weeks tasting regularly as you go to get a feel for how the flavor changes. Longer ferments simply mean more tartness which you may prefer.
- Jar it up - place the spears in Pint Mason jars, packing the container vertically as you would with pickle spears. Cover with the brine.
- Refrigerate - Refrigerate to significantly slow the fermentation.
Nutrition Facts
Fermented Spicy Daikon Radish Spears
Serves: 3 pints
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Amount Per Serving: 1 spear
|
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|---|---|---|
| Calories | 58.85 kcal | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 1.37 g | 1.5% | |
| Saturated Fat 0.27 g | 0% | |
| Trans Fat | ||
| Cholesterol | 0 | |
| Sodium 1097.15 mg | 45.7% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 11.69 g | 3.7% | |
| Dietary Fiber 6.41 g | 24% | |
| Sugars 4.79 g | ||
| Protein 2.62 g | ||
| Vitamin A | Vitamin C | |
| Calcium | Iron | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Fermentation Recipes
Other Articles of Interest
Why Everyone Should Ferment with an Airlock
What Equipment and Supplies Do I Need for Fermenting?
Measuring and Using Salt in Fermenting
Serving Suggestions
Great served as a zingy spicy compliment to salads or as an interesting appetizer. For you imbibers out there, this would be great as a spear in your Sunday Bloody Mary or perhaps in a creative martini.
Cheers!
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SOUNDS LIKE THIS MIGHT BE A GOOD THING TO DO WITH KOHLRABI, WHAT DO YOU THINK/
I would agree. I haven’t used Kohlrabi much in my own kitchen, but this process should lend itself nicely I would think. I’ll play around a little with fermenting with kohlrabi and see what I learn. If you try it, please let us know how it turns out!
Is the T in the salt and red pepper powder a teaspoon or a Tablespoon? thanks
Sorry if my shorthand was confusing. Small “t” for teaspoon, large “T” for Tablespoon.
Thanks! The reason I was confused was because in some of your recipes you wrote out “Tbsp.” not “T” .Well, I got it going.
One of my favorite ferments is spicy carrots. 1 lb. sliced carrots, a few sliced cloves of garlic,2 sliced small Serrano peppers in a 3.6 % brine(2 TBS./Quart water) for 10 days or so on the counter, then into the fridge.
Thanks culturetibs for letting me know about the discrepancy. I’ll try to standardize my notation. Thanks too for the tip on the carrots. I’ll give that a shot for sure.
Could miso replace the salt in the recipe? Also, I have a fermenting crock but not sure of the process of jarring up the fruits of my labor. Do I need to sterilize the jars first and how is the longevity of the final product affected by transferring into a receptacle not used in the fermenting process? Thanks!!
I’ve never tried to replace salt with miso so can’t tell, but please let me know how it goes if you try it. Regarding your jars, sterile is best, but a good washing with soap and water should be more than sufficient. No problem with transferring your ferment to a new container. Generally refrigerate them once you have finished the fermentation and jarred them up. Good luck!
Before I found your recipe and website, I made “deconstructed kimchi” in a quart mason jar a week ago using Daikon spears, apples, and the other usually kimchi ingredients, except that I skipped the fish sauce and the pepper, but I did add some red pepper flakes. I found short daikon that was only about 5″ long and about 1′ wide, and I left the daikon intact, so more like whole pickles vs pickle spears. So I guess that I should have sliced them into spears. Given my faux pas, any idea how long that I should let them ferment?
Thanks!
Well, I was wrong. I made these at the same time that I made fermented pickles, which I did using whole Persian dukes vs spears, so I was confusing it with that. I did in fact cut the daikon into spears, so I’ll let it ferment for 4 weeks like your recipe suggests. Sorry for the mix-up.
I still have some prized spears in a fermentation storage mini fridge I have. They’ve been there well over a year and they are sooooooo sour and delicious. In some ways, perhaps the longer the better, but you’ll just have to trust your own taste buds and time it accordingly! Enjoy!
Yes, thanks Ted, but that’s a fridge, right? I understand that ferments can last up t a year in the fridge. But my question was really about fermentation time — you let the Daikon ferment at room temp for 4 weeks initially, right, before you moved it to a fridge, right?
What I’m saying is go ahead and do the 4 weeks, but taste occasionally and see how you like it.
Trying the Daikon Spears for the first time. I also started a simple batch of carrot spears w/garlic cloves. I noticed something that begs a question: The carrot spears began fermenting almost immediately (I could see the vapor lock rise). The Daikon has been sitting for 4 days now and the vapor lock has not moved. Should I be concerned that maybe the Daikon brew is off somehow? Or is 4 weeks the time it takes for that particular vegetable?
I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m not certain what kind of “vapor lock” you are using, but the spears should ferment just fine. Not sure why such quick activity began with the carrots, but I believe carrots have more natural sugars in them which might jumpstart the ferment.
I just whipped up a batch of this. My wife returned from the Korean shop with several bunches of garlic shoots as well, so I added one bunch to the mix. I’ll let you know how it turns out. And if you’re interested in a good recipe for Korean-style garlic shoots, let me know. Cheers!
Thanks Matthew. I’d love that recipe for Korean-style garlic shoots!
Hi! I’d like to try this in my normal 2L (2 quart) jar, so how many times this recipe would I need? I know it’s an estmate. Thanks!
Hi Lulu, My best guess would be that probably around 5 lbs of daikon would do the trick for a 2L jar. Good luck!
for metric-country people out there:
A US cup is about 236ml; a US tablespoon is just under 15ml.
Depending on the particle size of the salt and heapingness of the tablespoon that’s somewhere between a 4% and 8% solution (between 40 and 80 grams per litre)
Can you clarify what kind of salt you’re using?
i am generally using sea salt in my ferments.
This is my first time fermenting something (technically I had an earlier attempt, but I was winging it). Hopefully this turns out well.
How did it go, Tony?
Instead of doing 1 large batch, could I make this to ferment in 3 pint jars? Would it go quicker being a smaller batch size? I just started playing with ferments a year ago and so far love the results. I look forward to giving these a try.
You can ferment them in smaller jars if you like, but that wouldn’t speed up the fermentation. Enjoy!
To my surprise, after a full week, my attempt at this recipe has produced exactly two bubbles when the container is tapped over several days, It does have a Pickle Pipe airlock. On day 8. I tasted the daikon and, while pleasantly softened and sweeter than raw, there is no hint of sour.
I made the recipe as written, except for doubling all ingrediants, measured the salt by weight, and the daikon was no more scrubbed than in the photo in Step 1 of this recipe appears. I am concerned about the apparent lack of carbon dioxide bubbles hiding in among the spears and wonder if any fermentation is taking place. Any comments would be appreciated.
I was hoping for a comment(s).
You won’t always see bubbles during a fermentation. It’s not a critical component of the fermentation. The proof of fermentation will come in the added sourness/flavor apparent as the process continues. How’s it going?