ORGANIC DAIKON RADISH
Aka: Japanese Radish
One of my favorite vegetables is the giant daikon. I love its flavor, crisp texture, and great versatility. Daikon is a pearly white root that's shaped like a carrot and can be as long as your arm. It's an easy, and rewarding vegetable to grow due to its surprisingly hefty yield.

Health Benefits: A sweet and pungent tonic, daikon tonifies the lung and liver meridians. Fresh daikon contains diuretics, decongestants, and the digestive enzymes diastase, amylase, and esterase. It is effective against many bacterial and fungal infections and it contains a substance that inhibits the formation of carcinogens in the body.

Use: It is not necessary to peel daikon. Wash and grate it to use raw or cut into the desired shape and cook it as you would a carrot in soups or sautéed, simmered, baked, or braised dishes. Or cut into a fanciful shape and add it to a grilled kabob. Organic daikon is also a tasty pickle ingredient and condiment. Because organic daikon aids digestion, in Japanese cuisine it always appears alongside hard-to-digest or fatty raw foods. Use the inner, younger daikon greens like turnip greens, but not in lightly sautéed dishes since their texture is rather course. In my garden, I harvest a few leaves from my row of daikon to enjoy the flavor long before I actually harvest the root. Refrigerated, the root holds well for up to ten days, but is sweetest when fresh.

Organic Daikon Condiment
This condiment has a bright, fresh taste that clears the palate. Serve it with any meal that contains cheese, a fatty fish, or meat.
1/4 cup freshly grated raw organic daikon
1/4 teaspoon organic soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon organic mirin (optional)
1/4 teaspoon fresh organic ginger juice or a pinch of ground ginger powder
Combine the ingredients, mound on a small condiment plate, and serve immediately. Serves 2.

from Rebecca Wood's The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia

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