Marinated in rice vinegar, sake, chili pepper, sugar, and salt, this easy Japanese Pickled Daikon recipe makes the best accompaniment to many of your main dishes. It’s tangy, slightly sweet and refreshingly crunchy.
Root vegetables like daikon radishes are especially delicious in winter months, so let’s grab some daikon at your local Japanese or Asian grocery store and make this easy Japanese Pickled Daikon!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Quick and so easy to make! Ideal for beginners who are new to pickling vegetables.
- Extremely versatile. Not only does it complement Japanese meals, the sweet and tangy flavor also goes really well with many Asian dishes. You could serve it with a rice meal or even as an accompaniment to your Asian-style pulled pork or meatball sandwiches.
- Ready in 2-3 hours. No long marination needed.
- Store well in the refrigerator for up to a month!
What is Daikon Radish?
Daikon (大根), also known as winter radish or Japanese radish, is a variety of large white radish used in Asian cooking. It is especially popular in Japanese cooking.
What does daikon taste like? It tastes like regular red radishes but with a much milder flavor. When eaten raw, it has a refreshing crunch and a light peppery taste. Once cooked, it gets tender, sweet, and really juicy. Which makes it a great choice for soups, hot pots, and stews.
Why is daikon so healthy? Why is it so popular in the Japanese diet especially in the wintertime? In addition to its great flavor and versatility, daikon is known for its many health benefits and plays a big part in the nutritionally balanced meals in our culture. It is high in vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, copper, folate, and so on.
Eating pickled daikon has an added advantage as it offers excellent source of probiotics that is good for your gut health.
How to Select and Prepare Daikon
Daikon radishes are available all year round but they are extra juicy and have a milder taste during the cold winter months.
To select good daikon, the skin should be smooth and it should feel heavy. Look for whole daikon that include the green top if possible. The green leaves are the best part of this winter radish! I like to chop the leaves into small pieces and add them into Miso Soup or make Furikake (rice seasoning). So good!
One of the most popular ways to prepare daikon is to pickle it, like the recipe I share here. Even the peppery daikon will mellow out nicely with a sweet and salty flavor when you pickle them. To remove the bitter & peppery taste of daikon, you can soak it in cold water.
How to Make Japanese Pickled Daikon
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Daikon radish
- Rice vinegar – Mild, slightly sweet, and delicate tasting and it’s most suited for Japanese and Asian cooking. I wouldn’t recommend using apple cider vinegar for this recipe.
- Sake (Japanese rice wine) (optional)
- Salt and sugar – We’ll need a decent amount of sugar and salt for this recipe as daikon releases lots of water during the pickling process.
- Dried red chili pepper – Optional but adds a little kick and color to the dish.
Overview: Cooking Steps
- Peel daikon and cut into thin half-moon slices.
- Cut the chili peppers into small pieces and discard the seeds if you prefer less spicy.
- Place all the ingredients in a resealable plastic bag and rub well. Remove the air before you seal the bag. You can start enjoying it after 2-3 hours!
What to Serve the Pickled Daikon With
This Japanese pickled daikon recipe is not meant to be eaten alone like a salad. We consider pickles as a palate cleanser between dishes and we call this kind of dish “hashi yasume” (literally, chopstick rest 箸休め).
I often serve the pickled daikon as part of an ichiju sansai (one soup, three dishes) meal, especially if the main dish is deep-fried. But you can also enjoy it with Instant Pot Asian pulled pork, BBQ Short Ribs, Sticky Asian Ribs, and sandwiches.
FAQs
Q: Can I make a double batch of this recipe?
For my recipe, I used only half the size of a large daikon. Please go ahead to make a double batch if you prefer to use up the entire daikon.
Q: Do I need to peel a daikon?
For Japanese cooking, we typically peel the skin as it can be rather thick.
More Easy Pickles Recipes You’ll Like
In Japan, pickles, or we call it tsukemono (漬物), are a staple for Japanese meal. They are usually served with rice and considered as a necessary accompaniment to Japanese meals. Here are more pickle recipes you’ll love:
- Easy Pickled Daikon and Carrot with Sweet Vinegar
- Pickled Sushi Ginger (Gari)
- Umeboshi (Japanese Pickled Plums)
- Japanese Pickled Cabbage
- Pickled Cucumber
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Pickled Daikon
Ingredients
- 1 lb daikon radish
- 1 dried red chili pepper
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- 1 tsp sake (optional)
- 1 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅓ cup sugar
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Peel 1 lb daikon radish and cut it in half lengthwise. Then, cut the daikon into ¼-inch (6-mm) slices.
- Cut 1 dried red chili pepper into small pieces. Discard the seeds if you prefer less spicy.
- Put the daikon, chili pepper, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned), 1 tsp sake, 1 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and ⅓ cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag and rub well.
- Remove the air from the bag and close it. You can start enjoying it after 2–3 hours.
To Store
- You can keep the pickles in the refrigerator for a month. When the flavor is getting strong, remove the pickling liquid and store the pickles in an airtight container or a jar.
Hi! I’m growing these in my garden, so looked up pickling options. Is there a traditional lacto-fermentation with Daikon?
Hi Micah! I don’t prepare traditional fermented pickles… quick and easy Asazuke for my daily use. One day, i’ll work on it. 🙂
Hi Nami! I finally worked up the courage to try this and it turned out great. I even added carrots and cucumbers. How do you recommend storing this? I wanted to put it into some glass jars but there is a lot of liquid in the bag now and I don’t know whether to keep it. About how long does it keep?
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Ana! I’m so happy to hear that yours came out well. 🙂 I like that you added carrots and cucumbers. Since this is a Asazuke (quick pickle, not fermented), I recommend removing the liquid (it gets too salty) and enjoy it soon.
What do I have to change in order to pickle the whole daikon (not slicing)
This recipe is for 1 lb (454 g), so you will need to adjust to your daikon size. I don’t pickle the whole daikon as I only do quick pickling and the whole daikon is harder to do that. 🙂
Hello Nami,
Firstly I want to say that I LOVE your site. I am not Japanese but I love Japanese food and your site is a great way for me to find recipes to try. My question is for this recipe can I use a fresh chili pepper or does it need to be dried?
Thank you so much for your wonderful site!!
Hi Melanie! Thank you for your kind words! I’m so happy that you like Japanese food and my site! Japanese cooking usually don’t include fresh chili pepper (you barely see spicy Japanese food – we usually “sprinkle” shichimi togarashi – Japanese 7 spice – on top of noodles etc, and that’s about it). If you like your food to be spicy, you can use either way. If you want to keep it Japanese, then use Shichimi Togarashi or Ichimi Togarashi (spicier, Japanese chili) or La Yu (spicy chili oil). 🙂
I made this last week, and they were good. I’m going to make them again with thinner slices and less sugar.
Hi Mike! I’m so happy to hear you liked it! Thank you for trying this recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Just to reconfirmed the amount of salt in this recipe: you wrote 1 tsp of salt but judging from the picture it looks more like 1 tbsp…unless my eyes are playing tricks on me 🙂
Hi Carrie! Oh my goodness! Your eyes were correct!!! Hope people who tried this recipe figured out on their own…???? Thank you so much for taking your time to let me know. I just updated the recipe. Thank you!!!
Sure! And thanks for all the recipes! We miss Japan everyday and eating Japanese style meals make us feel less homesick????
i like using mirin
Thanks for your suggestion! ????
I wanted to do something a bit different so I cut daikon into strips, subbed mirin for sake and sugar, added lime juice and fish sauce (uoshoyu). It was so good, so umami! It didn’t last long as it was consumed in one sitting.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Chieko! Ohh sounds delicious! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
My mother was so open-minded after she came to US. I remember living in a small town and when we went to a Chinese restaurant, she was treated like a princess! This was back in the early 60s but there weren’t many Asians back then unless you lived in a big city. She adapted. She always loved spicy and hot food and used hot peppers when she cooked. I used to make some dishes for her I thought would be too hot but she loved them! I miss her…she would be 82 this year. I love your website! I’m working on my own, cataloging recipes and photos. Mine will be a mix…seafood as the primary and anything else that suits my fancy. I won’t forget to include my mother’s contribs to me being fascinated with what one can accomplish in the kitchen!
Hi Chieko! Thank you for sharing your story about your mom! Wow what a wonderful cook she was, and she gave you a huge influence in cooking for sure!. 🙂 Good luck with cataloging the recipes and photos. I used to do that in my notebook or binder, but now it’s all here… more complicated than before. 😀
I love these otsukemono and am coming back to your recipe to make them again. I buy my daikon from my local JA produce market here in Kanazawa and sometimes my neighbors give them to me from their friends’ hatake!
Hi Abigail! I’m so jealous of your fresh ingredients there. I miss Kanazawa and hokuriku very much. I wish I could live there for a few years… Hope you enjoy this recipe. 🙂
Love your recipe. Can you freeze the pickle while it’s in the ziplock?
Hi Brigitte! Thank you! I looked into it. Some people say you can freeze daikon pickles, but the texture will not be the same. If you freeze, makes to remove all the liquid before freezing. 🙂
I just made this, I didnt add sake or the peppers I wanted to try it plain the first time around. I was skeptical at first but after a few pieces I was in love. This recipe is so easy to make and fast! This is something thats always going to be on hand in my household from now on. Ty for this recipe!
Hi Kanoe! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for writing your feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami, Whew! Just went thru all the posted comments about pickle daikon…looking for a better solution to the smell and couldn’t find anything better than wat I’m doing. So will share with you my remedy,
Soak the sliced daikon in water with ice cubes for about 30 mins then drain and combine with your recipe and
Store in a Ball mason jar, the air tight glass jar…Really keeps the smell locked in..
Hi Gerald! I wish I knew how to remove the smell. This pickled daikon recipe is one of my favorite, but I couldn’t figure out how to reduce the smell in the fridge… I’ll try your method next time! THANK YOU! 🙂
Reaaaaally delicious, I’ve been preparing these every week since I found this recipe. Thanks! Although you should try preparing them in a tupper or even better a glass jar, rather than generating more plastic bag waste!
Hi Aliander,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Yes! A Glass Jar sounds a much better choice for repeaters! Thank you for your tip!😊
Here, Nami used a nice glass jar for the Pickled recipe. Please check it out! https://www.justonecookbook.com/easy-soy-sauce-pickles/
I live in Japan and always have a difficult time finding simple recipes in English. I have discovered your blog now and find your detailed culinary and cultural explanations very easy to follow and fascinating!!! Thank you for creating such a fantastic blog, making me all the more eager to learn Japanese cooking!! I just had a baby, so now I’m looking to lose some weight in a healthy and balanced way, so Japanese cuisine is definitely the way to go! I look forward to reading more of your posts!!!
Hi Pia! I’m so glad you found my blog and thank you for your kind words! Congratulations on your baby! 🙂
I love pickled daikon… when I couldn’t find daikon, I would use turnips and add carrots, celery and a few pieces of shredded seaweed. Thank you Nami, I’m going to make some for my japanese valentine dinner for my husband.
Hi Diana! Yes that’s true. Japanese pickles are very versatile and we can use many kinds of vegetables. I hope you and your husband will enjoy this recipe!
I loooooveeee pickled daikon :3 First time I had it was in a veggie roll at a restaurant, I fell in love as soon as I bit down into the crispy sweet tangy center. I asked the waiter what it was, because it was just called a “Japanese pickle” on the menu. He explained, and said you can either make it or buy it and it’s been love ever since <3
Hi Kuriicakes! Thank you for writing! There are many kinds of pickles in Japan, and each region has their unique kinds, too. Hope you find the flavor that you really like! It’s fun to experiment. 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!