No waste post: Japanese style pickled radishes - and eat the leaves too!

I picked some lovely radishes from the vegetable garden, did you know that you can eat the leaves too? They are full of nutrients, as well as delicious!

Wash the radishes well, then cut in halves (or quarters if big), keeping attached some of the centre leaves. Set the outer leaves aside to use later.

These are the radishes (with the tender centre leaves) ready to pickle.

Add some salt, I used Japanese unrefined salt because I had it, but ordinary kitchen salt is fine.

Put another bowl over the radishes and then a weight on top (a rock, or anything heavy that you may have in the kitchen). Leave for a day and night, move the radishes from time to time if you like, to get them pressed. They will put out lots of water and create a brine.

This is what they will look like the day after.

Put into a jar with their brine and keep in the fridge (they will last a couple of weeks... maybe more but I don't know, we eat them quite quickly!

And now for the remaining leaves: since I had the above raw I decided to cook the rest for a few minutes in boiling water. 

Then I drained them and when cool I dressed them with soy sauce (gluten free readers can use tamari) and lemon juice. The portion looks small, but they are a perfect addition to a Japanese meal...

 like this one!

Vegan Japanese dinner with produce from my veggie garden

Clockwise from top left: rice with vegetable furikake, nimono of radish leaves, silken tofu with chrysanthemum leaves, rice with spinach, gari (pickled ginger). In the centre pickled radishes. Radishes, ginger, spinach and chrysanthemum all came from my garden

Yes chrysanthemum leaves are also edible (I was given a variety that only seems to make leaves, I like to eat them young). and if you want to know how to grow ginger and make your own gari click here. 

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Soft tofu and avocado sashimi served on homemade disposable bamboo dishers made with bamboo leaf sheath

There is no much to this dish really, just soft tofu with grated ginger and avocado (add wasabi and say sauce) plus some pickles, mostly bought except for the cucumber (recipe here).

The exciting thing for me here are the bamboo platters! I have some bamboo in the garden and it is shedding leaf sheaths. I love those fancy bamboo disposable dishes that you can buy in home stores, so I though of making my own. To clean the sheaths I just placed them in the dishwasher! Some rolled up a bit, but after a couple of days they were flat again! The dishwasher took away the dirt but some black stains remained, which makes me wonder how ecologically they treat the commercial plates, since they are so pale and spotless! But now I can make my own and doesn't matter if they are a little stained, they are natural and lovely to look at!

Photo and Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Japanese Vegan Dinner part 3: the side vegetables

These were the side vegetable dishes of my Vegan Japanese dinner. For those of you who missed some 'episodes', the antipasto was raw avocado sashimi, and the main Fried tofu puffs simmered in vegetable broth. I wanted to have a cooked and warm side vegetable dish, and a raw one. Of course variety, colour and difference in texture were as important as taste. For the warm vegetables I used broccoli and cauliflowers with a very easy miso sauce:

Broccoli and cauliflowers with easy miso sauce

A few broccoli and cauliflower florets

Hot vegetable stock (I used the broth strained from cooking the Fried tofu puffs simmered in vegetable stock - recycling is everything in Japanese Vegetarian Cuisine!)

Miso paste

Steam the broccoli and cauliflowers for a few minutes (they should be cooked but not mushy, nor too crunchy). In a small ball thin down about a tbsp of miso paste with some hot vegetable broth to make a thin paste. Arrange the broccoli and cauliflower florets in pretty serving bowls or small plates and drizzle just a little miso dressing on each dish. Don't overdress, as miso is quite salty, but leave some miso sauce in a side bowl for diners to help themselves if you like, or use the remaining miso sauce to make miso soup (this will be the last course, recipe coming soon).

For the raw vegetable dish I wanted crunchy Japanese pickles. I had some Takuan (bought) and I made the cucumber and radish pickles myself, as it is very easy!! I am growing radishes in pots, but "something" is nibbling at them! Never mind, I go around with the knife and save as much as I can! I also use the young tender leaves, they are lovely.

Quick Japanese Cucumber and Radish Pickles

1 cucumber (possibly the short Japanese type)

A few young radishes, with leaves

Salt (best to use unrefined salt)

Wash the cucumber and cut the into slices, and then into quarters. Clean the radishes well and then cut them into halves or quarters (depending on size). Leave the young leaves whole but trim excess stalk.

Place the radishes, leaves and cucumber pieces into a bowl and add 1 tsp of salt. Cover with with something heavy to press the vegetables down (for example fit another bowl on top and then put a heavy rock on top). Leave for a few hours (preferably overnight). Before serving rinse off all the salted water, squeeze lightly and drain well. Arrange the pickles on a small side plate. 

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©