I have a confession to make. I strongly dislike vinegary pickled and fermented things. Get your kimchi, sauerkraut, and what have you away from me. Open a jar of that stuff in my kitchen and you’ll see all the windows fly open. So why am I publishing a recipe for pickled winter radishes? Well…there are exceptions (but the windows still fly open).
I teased this recipe out of a more involved dish on Bon Appétit as one of many quick solutions for “too many radishes” in today’s harvest basket. It’s simple and uses few ingredients.
Pickled Winter Radishes
Ingredients
- 1-2 winter radishes such as Bora King, Watermelon, or Daikon
- 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar (we used brown rice vinegar)
- 1 TBSP sugar
- 1 tsp salt (we used pink Himalayan)
- 1/2 cup hot water
Method
Thinly slice the radishes (we used a mandoline for the task) and layer the slices into a pint jar. Gather your other ingredients:
Whisk together the vinegar, salt, sugar and hot water until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
Pour the brine over the radishes.
Put the lid on the jar and let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least an hour before using. After an hour it looks like this:
Don’t get me wrong, they are vinegary. But after a day or so in the fridge they become sweeter and any bitterness fades, reminiscent of pickled ginger. They also deepen in color, and what’s not to love about that?
I’m not relinquishing my dislike of brined food products anytime soon, but these pickled winter radishes are working their way into my heart. The whole process took less than 15 minutes. Give them a try and see what you think. Just eat them outside, if you don’t mind.
