Daikon is not a vegetable that I bought often, maybe because it tends to be sold as big specimens that seem daunting to get through, but when they’re home grown they’re more appealing. I sowed these at the end of May, and after a slow start they are off and jostling with the turnips next door. A feel around during a weeding revealed a shoulder, so I pulled one to see how they’re going (and thin them a bit). The result was not a huge root, so apparently they can go for a few weeks yet, but the size was perfect for dinner. I made this one into a japanese-stye soup with dashi stock, spring onions, carrot, seaweed, and miso to finish, served over buckwheat noodles. Delish.
Daikon is treated very differently in other cultures, interestingly. The indian mooli is a curry vegetable (I’ll look forward to cooking that when I have bigger ones), and the Koreans use it for kimchi mixed with cabbage, chilli, garlic etc, and fermented for a side-dish.
The May sowing was late according to my gardening app, so next year I will try it earlier and allow it the full winter to grow, which I suspect will give best results. The app says also sow August-Septermber, so I’ll give another sowing a try for Spring. I have a second row that I sowed in early July, and they are looking good despite the dry weather, so we shall see how they all do.