This easy braised daikon radish recipe shows you how to make a comforting and healthy one-pot dinner in no time. {paleo}
Wednesdays and Thursdays are always the most challenging days for a home cook, because you’ve probably used the weekend leftovers and you’re not ready for a splurge yet. They are also the days when you’re swamped with work and wish it were already Friday. The last thing you want to do is spend hours in the kitchen, to chop, cook, and clean up.
This braised daikon radish recipe is designed for exactly this type of situation.
Not only does it take merely 15 minutes of active prep and cooking time, it only uses one pot to make a comforting dinner that is packed with protein, vitamins, and fiber.
The seasoning and cooking method is similar to mapo tofu. All you need is to infuse the oil with fresh herbs, brown the ground meat (you can use any kind you like!), throw in daikon radish and the rest of the seasoning, and let it cook for 20 minutes. The dish is done once the radish becomes tender. Use a big spoon to get a little bit of everything – tender radish, ground meat, and clear broth. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to create a flavorful dish with such a few ingredients.
After returning from my gourmet trip in China, I’m now on a low carb diet to lose a few pounds. I didn’t pair rice with this dish. But if you’d like to add some carbs to your dinner and make the meal more substantial, start steaming the rice at the same time and both dishes will be finished at the same time. You can also throw in a can of beans while braising to make a bigger meal. If you have some leftovers, the dish will taste even better the second day!
More delicious winter soup recipes
- Watercress Wonton Soup
- Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup
- Napa Cabbage Soup with Meatballs
- Korean Stew
- Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Chinese Braised Daikon Radish
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 green onions , chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger , minced
- 1 pound (450 grams) ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, or turkey)
- 2 teaspoons Doubanjiang (Spicy Fermented Bean Paste)
- 1 Daikon radish (about 700 grams / 2 pounds)
- 2 cups chicken stock (vegetable stock, or water)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry) (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon five-spice powder (the homemade version works better)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste
Instructions
- Heat a medium-size dutch oven (or heavy duty pot) over medium heat until hot. Add a tablespoon of oil. Add green onion and ginger. Cook for a minute to release the flavor.
- Add ground meat. Cook and stir until surface turns brown.
- Add the doubanjiang. Cook and stir until the meat is evenly coated.
- Add the radish. Cook and stir to mix well.
- Add Shaoxing wine, chicken stock, soy sauce, sugar, and five spice powder. Cook over medium high heat until brought to a boil. Turn to medium low heat. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the radish turns tender. Add salt to taste.
- Serve with steamed rice or by itself.
I was skeptical about the flavor since this is quite a simple recipe with minimal ingredients. However, I’m not up to complicated recipe with 2 pages of ingredients either. Let’s just say I’m very pleased with the end product. You must try this!! Didnt make any adjustment except the sequence and excluded the wine (to make it Halal). I stir-fried the minced beef with doubanjiang then soy sauce with sugar to bring out the soy flavor before I poured in the chicken stock. This pleased my daikon lover son so much he asked me to make this again this week. This recipe is a time saver for busy working mum. It’s simple, with minimal effort, flavorful and the left-over keeps well. However, any tips to remove the slight bitterness taste in the daikon?
Daikon usually doesn’t taste bitter to me, but I think the duration of cooking affects its flavor. It is usually quite spicy, but it becomes sweeter when you cook it longer and the other hidden flavor will come out. Maybe you can try to taste the daikon during the braising and see what what stage you like the taste the best? Also, maybe you can slightly increase the sugar to cover the bitterness.