Radishes: Beyond raw
25. Jun, 2010 
3 Comments
Faced with an abundance of radishes, I set about skimming through my cooking library for recipes to make use of them, or at least ideas for a starting point. There were two pieces of information that kept cropping up. First, that there are three major kinds of radishes: red, Asian (such as Japanese daikon) and black. Second, that the red variety, which is what I’ve been growing, are almost always served raw or pickled. In fact, most cookbooks suggested that the pinnacle of the radish-eating experience consisted of holding them by their leaves, dipping them in butter and sprinkling them with salt. I found more recipes for radish greens than for the radishes themselves!
Still, a couple of mentions that red radishes can be cooked like turnips – and a recipe for roast radishes in Fergus Henderson’s famous The Whole Beast – got me thinking. Why not try glazing them? After all, you wouldn’t have to worry about trying to tourner them; they’re already the perfect shape.
So that’s what I did, sort of. I heated some butter in a frying pan, added the radishes and put a little colour on them. Then I added a spoonful of red pepper/wine jelly and half a cup of water, covered and simmered until the radishes were tender. After uncovering them and boiling off the remaining liquid, they were ready to eat.
There was only one thing I hadn’t counted on. As a member of the same family as mustard, the piquancy of radishes is sensitive to heat. Sautéing them like I did is a sure-fire way to temper that piquancy and bring out their natural sweetness which, when coupled with the sweetness of the jelly, became a little over the top.
So would I do it again? Sure, but I’d probably use much less jelly. Or maybe balance it with some acidity. I’m betting sweet-and-sour radishes could be pretty tasty…
Matthew Kayahara
Radish Greens are an awesome late addition to just about any legume you are braising.
I’ve never thought of cooking the radishes themselves, but I guess they are just tiny turnips (more or less). Interesting.
I’ll have to give that a try the next time I’m cooking some lentils, Erik. It’s too bad that the greens on the radishes in our garden have been hit so hard by the local insect population!
After your last radish post, I got to thinking about what to do to make the heat more palatable to my pro-radish but somewhat sensitive mouth. I had them at a friend’s house with the traditional bread and butter shortly after, and found that it helped. Thinking about how I always eat plain yogurt with curries so that I can enjoy more and cry less, I tried snacking on radishes individually wrapped in some thin raclette strips we had left over from another meal. Totally worked! Must try cooking them as well.