Daikon - Japanese Radish: Cleaning And Storage, Varieties

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

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And radish is sweet or a word or two about daikon

Cleaning and storage

The "Japanese radish" ripens in September and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one and a half months, and in the cellar, subject to optimal storage conditions, for 3-4 months (I keep it until December, but this is not an indicator, since I grow a little daikon, and by December it just ends on its own). There is information in the literature that the daikon can be preserved even until March, but I have not verified this statement.

Harvesting root crops is preferable in dry weather, but always before frost. Basically, everything is as usual: the root crops are cleaned of the ground and immediately cut off the tops (the roots with uncut tops flab off very quickly), leaving the stalks 1-2 cm apart and not touching the root. Daikon roots break easily and become unsuitable for storage. Therefore, large root crops should be dug in with a garden pitchfork or a shovel and, rocking, carefully removed from the soil.

In no case should you be late with cleaning. The palatability of stale root crops deteriorates sharply. Frozen roots are very poorly stored. At first, the damage is invisible, but over time, the skin on the heads of root crops wrinkles, voids appear inside, the pulp acquires a bitter taste. Therefore, they must be immediately used for food, until these processes have developed. Only such roots, harvested on time, undamaged during harvesting, frost or cabbage fly, will be well stored.

The daikon is stored at a temperature of 0 … 1 ° C in boxes, always sprinkling it with sand or dipping it in clay (I stopped at the clay option, which helps to preserve juicy roots until December).

Daikon varieties

Fang of an elephant. Mid-season (growing season 70-100 days). Root crops are white, up to 50 cm long, weighing 400-550 g, cylindrical; the pulp is white, tender, juicy, sweet-spicy taste. More than other varieties in our conditions, it is prone to flowering.

Minovase. Juicy, tender, devoid of a specific rare bitter-spicy taste, root crops reach a length of 60 cm. Perfectly stored.

Miyashige. Almost does not form peduncles. Root crops are white, smooth, cylindrical, of high taste.

Shogoin. Root crops are large, round, weighing up to 1.8-2.3 kg; the pulp is juicy, excellent taste.

Sasha. An early ripening, cold-resistant, high-yielding variety that forms a crop in unison both in open and protected ground. The period from full germination to technical ripeness is 35-40 days. Root vegetables are round or oval-rounded, white, smooth, 6-10 cm long, the diameter of the middle of the root is 5-9 cm. Weight 200-400 g. The pulp is tender, dense, juicy and tasty. The root crop is half submerged in the soil, easily pulled out. The average weight of a marketable root crop is 100-400 g. Resistant to mucous bacteriosis and "flowering". The variety is very much appreciated for the amicable formation of the crop, the uniformity of roots and cold resistance.

Dubinushka. The variety is mid-season, from full germination to technical ripeness of 60-75 days. The root crop is cylindrical with a thickened pointed base, 30-45 cm long, 5-8 cm in diameter, smooth. The head and shoulders of the root crop are slightly greenish-yellow. The main color is white, the flesh is very juicy, tender, snow-white, of a dense consistency. Immersion in the soil by 1 / 2-1 / 3 of the length. Easy to pull out. The root vegetable mass is 750-2200 g. The taste is good, sweetish, refreshing, without a spicy aftertaste. Productivity 6.5-9.5 kg / m². A very promising variety, suitable for culture, both in open and protected ground (in this case, sowing is carried out in mid-April).

A bit of culinary

Due to the fact that the daikon is still a "Japanese radish", I, for the exotic, ventured to give recipes for the most common Japanese dishes with daikon. True, I'll tell you a secret, I could not find the time and energy to prepare them, but in Japanese restaurants in Russia (for example, in Moscow - "Tokyo" or in St. Petersburg - "Kyoto") they are in demand (I specifically recognized them). Maybe you will take the risk and create one of the masterpieces of Japanese cuisine?