Pickled daikon is a simple Japanese side dish with a crisp texture and a refreshing sweet and tangy flavor. It is a common type of tsukemono (Japanese pickles) often served alongside rice and other dishes as a refreshment. This easy and delicious recipe comes from my aunt in Japan who taught me her secret is to keep the daikon at the right temperature while it slowly pickles. Only a few simple ingredients are needed to make a batch of this crunchy and flavourful daikon radish tsukemono!
Table of contents
What is Pickled Daikon?
Pickled daikon is a type of Japanese pickle, known as tsukemono (漬物), made from daikon radish soaked in a seasoned pickling mixture. Daikon has a naturally crisp texture and mild flavor, which makes it perfect for absorbing the sweet, salty, and tangy flavors of the pickling liquid. In Japan, pickled daikon is usually served in small portions alongside steamed rice, grilled fish, or other dishes as a refreshing addition to a meal.
Why You Will Love This Pickled Daikon Recipe
This pickled daikon recipe creates a delicious combination of textures and flavors. The daikon stays crisp and absorbs the sweet and tangy pickling liquid, along with plenty of umami from kombu and katsuobushi.
It’s also a perfect example of traditional Japanese home cooking using simple ingredients. Unlike takuan, which is traditionally made by drying and fermenting daikon over a longer period, this quick pickled daikon is much simpler to make at home. My aunt taught me to refrigerate the daikon while it pickles, so it gets that satisfying crunch without the long fermentation process.
Once made, you can keep it in the fridge and serve a few slices whenever your meal needs something crisp and refreshing.
Ingredients You Will Need
Daikon Radish : Look for a firm, heavy daikon with smooth, white skin and no soft spots. The upper and middle sections have a milder, slightly sweeter flavor, making them especially good for pickling.
Salt : Salt draws excess moisture from the daikon, which helps it stay crisp and allows the pickling flavors to soak in better.
Rice Vinegar : Rice vinegar gives the daikon a clean, gentle acidity without making the pickles taste too sharp.
Sugar : Sugar balances the acidity of the rice vinegar and gives the pickles their mild sweet and tangy flavor.
Kombu : Kombu adds a subtle umami flavor to the pickling liquid and gives the daikon more depth without overpowering its fresh taste.
Dried Chili : Dried chili adds a little heat that complements the sweet and tangy pickling liquid. Remove the seeds if you prefer a milder flavor.
Mirin : Mirin adds a subtle sweetness and helps round out the acidity of the rice vinegar. It also gives the pickling liquid a little more depth than using sugar alone.
Katsuobushi (Bonito Flakes): Katsuobushi adds a rich, savory umami flavor to the pickled daikon. As it sits in the pickling liquid, the bonito flavor infuses into the daikon and gives the pickles a distinctly Japanese taste.
How to Make Pickled Daikon
Making pickled daikon is not difficult, but it takes time. Salting the daikon for several hours and then allowing it to slowly pickle at a cool temperature gives it its characteristic crisp texture and deep flavor.
- Prepare the Daikon : Peel the daikon and slice it into strips about 3 to 5 mm (0.1 to 0.2 inch) thick. I use an adjustable ceramic slicer because it makes it easy to keep every piece close to the same thickness. Even slices are important here. If some pieces are much thicker than others, they will not salt and pickle at the same rate.
- Salt the Daikon : Sprinkle the sliced daikon evenly with salt, toss well, and leave it for 7 to 8 hours. During this time, you will notice quite a lot of liquid coming out of the daikon. Drain away this liquid, then gently squeeze the daikon to remove the remaining moisture. Don’t squeeze so hard that you crush the slices because you still want that satisfying crunch in the finished pickle.
- Make the Pickling Liquid : Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and mirin in a saucepan. Gently heat the mixture just until the sugar has completely dissolved, then remove it from the heat and let it cool. There is no need to vigorously boil the mixture. You only need enough heat to dissolve the sugar and bring the flavors together.
- Pickle the Daikon : Place a layer of the prepared daikon into a clean container. Sprinkle over a little katsuobushi, ito kombu, and dried chili, then spoon over some of the vinegar mixture. Continue layering the daikon and seasonings until all the ingredients have been used. Layering them this way distributes the kombu and bonito throughout the daikon instead of concentrating all that umami in one area.
- Leave it in room temperature : Cover the container and leave the daikon to pickle for about 1 week at around 9°C (48°F). This is an important detail in my aunt’s recipe, so I make this pickle during the cooler months when I can maintain a suitably low temperature. As the daikon rests, it will gradually absorb the sweet, tangy, and savory flavors while keeping its crispness. Once it is ready, chill the pickled daikon and serve it alongside steamed rice and your favorite Japanese dishes.
Shiho’s Kitchen Tips to Make Pidkled Daikon
Temperature Really Matters
When I asked my aunt for this recipe, she told me the most important thing was the temperature. Her ideal temperature for making this pickled daikon is around 9°C (48°F).
When I first made her recipe in Australia, it was winter and the temperature was around 8 to 14°C (46 to 57°F), which was why I decided it was the perfect time to try it. This is very much a cool-weather pickle, and I would not leave it at normal warm indoor temperatures for a week.
Don’t Rush the Salting Step
Give the sliced daikon a full 7 to 8 hours with the salt before adding the pickling mixture. You will see liquid collect as the salt draws moisture from the daikon, and removing that excess water helps the finished pickle stay crisp rather than becoming watery.
Layer in the Umami
Two ingredients that make my aunt’s version especially flavorful are ito kombu and katsuobushi. Ito kombu is kelp cut into fine threads and katsuobushi is dried bonito shaved into thin flakes.
I layer both between the salted daikon rather than simply mixing everything together at once. As the daikon sits, the kombu and bonito slowly season each layer and add a deep umami flavor.
How to Serve Pickled Daikon
In Japan, pickled daikon is usually served in a small dish rather than as a large side. A few crisp slices are enough to add a refreshing sweet and tangy flavor between bites of steamed rice and savory dishes.
I especially like serving it with a simple Japanese meal of steamed rice, miso soup, and grilled fish. It also works well alongside karaage and other richer foods because the vinegar cuts through the richness and refreshes your palate.
You can also include it as the pickle component of an ichiju sansai style meal. Serve it chilled and include some of the kombu and katsuobushi from the pickling mixture for extra flavor.
How to Store Pickled Daikon
Once the pickled daikon has finished pickling, transfer it with enough pickling liquid to keep it moist into a clean airtight jar. Secure the lid tightly and store the jar in the refrigerator rather than continuing to leave it at cool room temperature.
Always use clean chopsticks or utensils to remove the daikon from the jar. This helps prevent contamination and keeps the remaining pickles fresh and crisp.
Variations
Once you have made the original version, you can easily experiment with the vegetables and seasonings. Try adding thinly sliced carrots to the daikon for extra crunch, sweetness, and color.
For a bright yellow version, add a small amount of turmeric to the brine. Start with just a little because turmeric quickly colors both the daikon and the pickling liquid and can become quite earthy if you add too much.
Rice vinegar gives this recipe the mild Japanese flavor I prefer, but you can experiment with other vinegars. Apple cider vinegar gives the pickles a fruitier acidity, while white vinegar creates a noticeably sharper brine, so you may need to adjust the sugar slightly to suit your taste.
Daikon No Tsukemono (Pikled Daikon)大根の漬物
Video
Ingredients
- 1 kg Daikon Radish
- 50 g salt
- 60 ml rice vinegar
- 10 ml mirin
- 100 g sugar
- 15 g bonito flake
- 15 g threaded kelp
Instructions
- Wash the daikon radish and slice it about 15cm long and 5mm thickness.
- Sprinkle salt over the sliced daikon and toss to evenly coat every piece with salt.
- Leave it for 7-8 hours.
- After 6-7 hours, drain and squeeze out the excess water off the sliced daikon radish (do not wash them).
- Combine the rice vinegar, mirin, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring it to boil over medium heat, when all the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat off and let it cool down.
- Lay the daikon radish into a large container and sprinkle a little bit of bonito flake, kelp, and the vinegar mixture. Repeat the process until all the ingredients are used.
- Leave it in cool room temperature for a week.
hi! lovely recipe thank you. i am confused about whether the recipe calls for leaving it at “room temperature” for a week to allow fermentation? or do you mean it will keep in the fridge for a week after its made? thank you!
Hi Richard, the former.
oishi so👍
Thank you Jun, yes it is delicious 😀
I made this and my husband loved it. He asked me to make a bigger batch the next time. Can you also recommend other kinds of pickles?
Thank you Apple to making this pickles. I am glad to hear your family loved it. This recipe is great for Daikon so I have not made other but you can try something like different types of radish.
Question: when you say leave at room temperature for a week, do you mean leave at 48 degrees Fahrenheit for this entire time? If yes, then it would need to be in our refrigerator for that time as it is generally 70 degrees in our house year round.
Hi Kerry, yes.
Try with ginger is amazing.
Hello. Looks lovely. I have to find the kelp and bonito – I am in Australia. Once I find kelp do I have to prepare it in any other way or just throw it in? Also, when you leave it for a week, does it need to be lying flat or can it be in a mason jar? Thanks very much
Hi Farah, you don’t have to do anything, just throw it in. Yes you can keep in a mason jar.
Not sure if it’s dry kelp or reconstituted with a little warm water? Thanks.
Hi Steve, yes it is dry kelp.
Hi Shihoko,
I’d like to make these pickles, but i have few questions: At home I have mizkan honteri mirin seasoning, do you think is possible to use it instead of the rice vinegar?
and also 9ml of mirin, is it the hon mirin or again I can use the mizkan honteri mirin ?
Another question is, if i don’t have bonito flake, could I use some fish sauce?
thank you!
simona
Hi simona, you can use the mirin you have but can not replace vinegar for it.
Hi Ms Shihoko! may i know if there is an alternative for sugar? i have friends who have diabetes / high blood sugar, they are not allowed to eat food with lots of sugar content. thank you for your help
Hi Tienan Tan, can your friend allowed to use xylitol?
Hello Shihoko, I just made this recipe. Could I double check the salt amount please? 50g is rather salty and with the addeed bonito flakes, the entire pickle is even more salty. Secondly, the amount of vinegar 54ml – (approximately 3.5 tablespoons) seems to be too little for 1kg daikon, Can you please explain?
Lastly, this small font size is such a strain on my eyes – it’s so small on the computer. It’s even worse on my mobile device. Can you please fix this issue? Thank you.
Sincerely
Evonne
Hi Evonne, Thank you for asking. It is correct, because you don’t leave the salt. You need to squeeze out once the salt withdraw moisture out of Daikon. and Vinegar amount is correct too. Because after moisture withdrawn from the daikon,they shrink. You don’t need a lot of amount to pickle. The font size are set than bigger than average website.
こんにちはシホコさん！
I make these with crisp Asian apples added, cut into matchsticks, because I don’t like too much sweetness. I also add ginger, and kelp flakes. I don’t use fish; vegetarians から. I do a lacto ferment, instead of the quick vinegar pickle, but the result is similar. Thanks for sharing this recipe – it’s great to do quick pickles when you can’t wait several weeks for the fermentation!
ありがとうございます！
ジャ二ス
Hi Jan-san. Thank you for the 5 star rating and lovely comment. Great adjustment to the recipe 😀
Evonne you can adjust the size of the font on your computer by holding down the “command” key and the ” + ” or ” – ” key at the same time. ( On a mac – not sure what it is for a PC but you can look up “enlarge text on PC”) .
That said, this does not work in this comment box – the font remains tiny! – usually it does work on other sites! But the post text does enlarge
You could ask someone to help you reset the font size in your phone. It is in the setting function.
Can you talk about how this recipe would result with less sugar? I love tsukemono and have been looking for a good recipe. This sounds like what I’ve been looking for but I’m wanting a less sweet pickle.
Thoughts? Ideas?
Hi Elizabeth, let me to try out. I like the sweetness of this pickles so I will try alternative sweeteners(Erythritol) or do you just want to reduce the amount of sugar, then the taste of this daikon pickle will be different.
Hi folks… be careful about using erythritol (or xylitol) because they have an antimicrobial effect and may slow or stop fermentation. I use xylitol in my kimchi recipe because I like it quite fresh and it holds well for a long time in the refrigerator, so it may actually work for you. I’d be interested in hearing how your experimentation with erythritol works out.
If you can obtain it, tagatose might be a better alternative. I have a little on hand and might try it myself 🙂
Hi Speedwell, Thank you so much for your feedback. I have not experimented it yet, but I will keep the information in my mind. Thank you!
maybe agave nectar? but I think Elizabeth should just use less sugar – and it will be less sweet – just as she likes it
100g = 8 tablespoons of sugar?!
Yes, It is quite sweet.
I wonder how it will be without Bonito flakes?
It might be something missing, taste blant?
I first tasted Daikon when I was stationed on the island of Hokkaido back in the 1960’s. A Japanese friend of mine used to make them for me. I have to try this recipe.
Daikon in Hokkaido must had been delicious 😀
Shihoko, after sitting on the counter for a week, I suppose you put them in the fridge. For how long can you keep it in the fridge?
Hi Doru, It will last about a week in fridge 😀 but in my house it does not last long as everyone loves it.
Thank you for posting this recipe. It sounds delicious. I’ll fashion some konbu threads from my larger pieces as I can;t find the strands anywhere. Usually I just pickle daikon with carrot in rice vinegar with a bit of salt and sugar, but this sounds much more interesting and flavorful.
Oh yes Dave, Bonito flake and Konbu gives a lot of Umami flavour 😀
Hi – I’m looking forward to trying your recipe, however, you have “50 g salt” listed on the ingredients list, but nowhere in the recipe directions. Is the salt used to draw out the water from the Daikon? Or should I just eliminate the salt altogether?
Hi Amy Thank you so much for letting me know. You are right. I completely miss out to include the process.
amazing recipe great work!
thank you so much 🙂
Oh major YUM! I love pickled daikon, and I cannot WAIT to try your Aunt’s version – it has my mouth watering just thinking about it! I love trying tried and true family family recipes like this, as I love the authenticity they always have.
Thank you for providing the tip on how to “un-salt” the salted kombu – I am assuming I won’t be able to find threaded kombu either, so I’ll have to go with that instead. And I also love how your recipe is for a slightly smaller amount of pickles- it’s only 2 of us in my house, so I don’t need large amounts. I think this will be the perfect bento box side dish – can’t wait to add it to my next one!
Konnichiwa Shannon san. My household is small too and my children are not big fan of pickled food. Hope their taste pallet will change then I can make a bigger batch 😀 This recipe is the best I have tasted in my life and I am from Japan, so tasted tons of pickled Daikon 😀
Hi I live in Singapore with room temperature up to 30 degrees! Should I place it in the fridge after making this?
Hi Dawn Yes, I would. Thank you for making this 😀
What an interesting recipe! It must be super delicious. Thank you for posting it!
Thank you Sean. Yes it is the most delicious pickled daikon radish ever I have tasted :D.
Thank you Shihoko-San for sharing you Aunt’s recipe.
It took quite awhile to convert your measurements to American measurements.
And… although it’s not 100% accurate… I think it’s “close enough” .
Another “funny” thing:
I’m well over 70 years old and have always referred to “Daikon Radish” simply as “Daikon”.
If I said “Daikon Radish” to my family…, they would just look at me and wonder what I’m referring to… LOL !!!
Ohhh Sorry Doug san, I keep forgetting to write recipe in both American measurements as well and thank you so much for trying out the recipe 😀
Would you mind making a copy of the recipe for daikon in American measures. I’m making some tonight but I’m not sure how accurate my measurements are.
Hi Coreen, I fixed the recipe, you should see US metric under the ingredients list. If you click that, it will convert to Us Metric 😀 Thank you for letting me know.
Hi, so I was wondering if this could be canned its harder to get daikon where I live and thought since its pickled if I could make a big batch when I can get a hold of the daikon and have for the year
Hi Nicole, Sorry I am not sure. My Aunt makes like 5kg at once but we usually finish all of them. Please let me know if you succeed.