You're at your favorite local sushi joint and there's this salty limp yellow disc on your plate or maybe there's a long skinny piece of it in your roll...that's takuwan.
There are other recipes on-line that are more
involved or, perhaps, more traditional but they make a product similar to those salty limp discs and I don't like commercial takuwan; I like Grand
ma's takuwan (are you noticing a trend in my food preferences?). What makes Grandma's different? Well, they're crunchy, they're ready to eat the next day and this recipe is at least four generations old.
The Recipe:
1 c sugar
1/4 c salt (Hawaiian or sea)
1 c Japanese vinegar (aka rice wine)
3 lbs Korean daikon (this is what makes the takuwan crunchy)
Yellow food coloring
Peel and slice the daikon into 1/4" half moon pieces and put them in a large heat safe container (I use a big glass jar). Boil the sugar, salt and vinegar until everything is disso
lved then add a few drops of the food coloring. Pour over the sliced daikon and push the slices down until they are mostly submerged, they will shrink down from the heat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Grandma and I like to pack up the finished takuwan in clean peanut butter jars; that way you aren't giving away your nice mason jars when you share your takuwan with friends. This is a fresh pickle so please store it in the refrigerator and eat them quickly. I have eaten some that were six plus months old but they had started to discolor, they turn brown.
Do you have a favorite pickle?
Happy Cooking!
-KP
