Daikon and pork bone soup is my family’s common soup. I made it every now and then. I find that the daikon in the soup is pretty tasteless and no one except me will eat it. So, the last time I made the soup, I removed the daikon from the soup after 1 hour and braised it in a few tablespoons of soy sauce, a tablespoon of mirin, some brown sugar to taste and with a few tablespoons of the soup. I let it braise until almost all the liquid is gone.
The Braised Daikon is more flavourful but I find that there is a hint of bitterness in it. Does anyone out there have a better way of braising the dailon?
Suanne, I haven’t noticed any hint of bitterness in the daikon that I buy in UK, would often boil it in basic chicken stock comprising water, spring onions, ginger, chicken bones, pork bones,a decent amount of drinking quality Shaohsing wine and a bit of salt of course,the daikon cooked is quite delicious on its own that I’ll happily eat, if I should come across any bitterness in future, I’ll probably dip it in sweet Thai chilli sauce or add a bit of rock or granulated sugar to the stock in the first place.
Forgot to mention, when a kid in M’sia, mum also used to boil daikon with dried scallops or dried oysters that’s rather bland as to both daikon and soup in either case, with chicken/pork bones, there is an intensification and richness of flavour like no other in my experience.
at times, the bitterness can be because the daikon isn’t in season, or of the best quality.
I agree, the daikon is bitter b/c it’s not the best quality or not in season. I dont think it’s because of the way you cook it?!
Apropos, I ALWAYS buy the largest, freshest and best-quality daikon principally for making turnip cake or Lor Pak Koh – is there a recipe in ChowTimes? – and I was a bit surprised to hear about the problem of bitterness because I had genuinely never ever experienced it.
Hi Chinchyesek, yes there is a recipe for making turnip cake in chowtimes; http://chowtimes.com/2006/02/10/lo-bak-go-chinese-turnip-cake/.
My husband always say the bigger the daikon, the milder the taste. I notice the smaller the diameter (girth) of the daikon, the harder it is and the more bitter. 🙂
Hi Ben and Suanne – Firstly, belated Happy New Year, or I should say Happy Chinese New Year!
I don’t think I’m big fan of eating daikon like that. However, I like to have turnip cake instead. I guess you guys may make it for the Chinese New Year?
I find that putting the salt in right after I put in the root vegetables or anything that is bitter erases the bitter taste.