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.
Hello! I made the pickled daikon and really like it, but there’s a very unpleasant smell that is released when I open the plastic container. The radish tastes fine; what’s up with that? Is it safe to eat?
Hi Pamela! I know! That’s the natural sulfur smell. 🙁 I love daikon pickles too, but unless you put in a jar and close tightly, you may smell it even in the fridge! By the way, raw daikon will smell too, if you keep in the fridge for a long time.
Do you have Japanese sweet egg recipes?
Hi Jane! Yes here it is: https://www.justonecookbook.com/tamagoyaki-japanese-rolled-omelette/
I tried this but it ended up smelling so bad in the fridge! What did I do wrong?! Any ideas why it would be so pungent? Perhaps I should try again. I love pickled daikon, but my attempt was a fail.
Hi Shannon! Oh the daikon is stinky!!!! It’s nothing wrong. I has a high content of sulfur compounds. You can either eat faster or put in an airtight jar… 🙂
So – I remade this recipe for my family by using an airtight glass tupperware container and also dissolving the sugar into the rice vinegar over low heat. It tasted great and my fridge smelled much less than when I used a Ziploc bag. Thanks for your help, Nami. I love your website. It’s my go-to resource! For our “Sibling Christmas” dinner last night, I made a Japanese meal with pickled daikon, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, rice, miso soup, and fried chicken with cheese inside (from Midnight Diner). I wish I had taken photos! Everyone liked it a lot. Thanks again!
Hi Shannon! Aww Sibling Christmas!!! I’m so envious. That sounds so much fun! I’m happy to hear you made all the Japanese food and glad to know the daikon smelled less! Thank you so much for your kind words and feedback. Happy Holidays to you and your family!
Easy, excellent, and delicious! Took all the bitterness out of the daikon and made a sweet, soft pickle. I’ll be using this recipe for carrots next. Thanks!
Hi Sylvia! Thanks so much for your kind feedback! I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂
I love all the Japanese pickles and never knew how to make them. I’m making this now and I wonder if I could pickle them at room temperature, instead of in the fridge. Thanks!
Hi Lilian! You can, especially in colder winter months, but to avoid any bacterial growth, it’s best to keep in the fridge. When the salt % is higher, it is much safer and bacteria won’t grow, but since these are quick pickling, salt is not used much. So it’s “safer” to keep in the fridge. 🙂
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This might be a stupid question, but how long will this last in the fridge?
Hi Sheareen! I’d say to finish eating within 5-7 days after you started pickling. The salt % in this tsukemono is light and not meant for keeping for a long time. 🙂
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Hi Nami, I just started pickling today and I was quite amazed by the amount of liquid the daikons released! Anyway, I’m really here to thank you for sharing that daikon leaves are edible. I added them to my miso soup like you suggested and it was wonderful. I loved the crunch, that it didn’t wilt quickly, and that slight bitterness that cut through the richness of my soup. Thank you! Fingers crossed for my pickles too d=
Hi osmanthus tea! Yes, daikon has so much water inside, and that shows you got a pretty good quality daikon. 🙂 I often see some daikon in western grocery stores that are all dried up (maybe no one buys it? :(). And yes! So happy you liked the daikon leaves in miso soup! I actually made another recipe with daikon leaves… I’ll try to share it as soon as I can (but it might be next month as we have other recipes scheduled to post this month already). It’s my favorite! 🙂
Had a delicious pickled salad at our local Asian buffet. Asked the young server what the white veggie was…off she went to grab her phone & put in something in Chinese-showed me the results “white radish!” Daikon & carrot in a refreshing pickled brine-amazing side I can make using your recipe. Thanks!
Hi Catherine! Glad you could figure out your favorite pickles. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
HI Nami
Tried this recipe with both the common daikon and the red daikon (which look a little like guava).. it was delicious!
Just a quick check, could we use/add other vegetables along with daikon for this recipe? Thought the pickling liquid might be versatile in that sense ????
Cheers
Pat
Hi Pat! Sure, you can use other vegetables. I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hello nami, I had never done pickles before, so when I uncovered the radish I felt a strange smell (like metal), is this normal? I really wanted to make sure they were safe to eat
Would it add more salt?
Thanks for your recipe.
Hi Ruth! Daikon is VERY stinky, and that’s probably one negative thing when you make it at home… my fridge gets smelly! Is that what you’re experiencing? I’m not sure if that smells metal… but since you mentioned about the smell, I would assume that’s the smell of daikon. If you follow this recipe, you do not need more salt. 🙂 I apologize it took me a while to get back to you….
Hi, thanks for the recipe. However, I don’t use plastic bags at all, is there an alternative I could use to the ziplock bag?
Hi Cecilia! You can use a container, bowl, or jar and press the daikon with heavy object on top to press. 🙂