Marvellous mooli, delicious

We have form when it comes to white . Previously we grew White Icicle type varieties, which in the pubs of southern Germany they eat with a dab of to go with foaming jugs of cold beer. Somehow in Wales they didn’t grow quite so well as in Franconia and gradually we stopped trying. Meanwhile at our market stall in Aberystwyth we had requests for Mooli from rather desperate customers newly arrived from overseas but it wasn’t until a visit to northern Japan in 2014 (OG 29) that I saw large-scale daikon cultivation (daikon is Japanese, mooli is the Hindi name). Mr Matsubayashi was growing on IUHHGUDLQLQJÀHOGVZLWKEODFNYROFDQLFVRLOVDQGDOWKRXJKZHKDYHVLPLODUPRLVWDQGFRROFRQGLWLRQVLWVHHPHGXQOLNHO\ ZHFRXOGUHSOLFDWHVXFKPDJQLÀFHQWGDLNRQJURZLQJRQRXUVWRQ\VLOWFOD\V

Fast forward to July 2018 and I was running out of space for the last outdoor sowings of the year until I remembered Quick takuan pickle that there were unplanted rows ridged up but unused (Don’t worry if you are out of – it next to our potato trial. Unplanted rows can soon become still tastes really good) DZHHGSUREOHPDUHDDQGP\ÀUVWWKRXJKWZDVWRSODQW Ingredients out some late squash and pumpkin plants that needed 500g daikon radish a home but then I realised that they would no doubt 1 tablespoon salt WUDLODQGÀQGWKHLUZD\LQWRWKHWULDOSORWV(YHQWXDOO\, 100g looked through my remaining seed packets and came 100mg water across radish that I’d ordered in the spring. Among them 100ml vinegar were Daikon Minowase (Raphanus sativus) from Seed 1-tablespoon sake Cooperative www.seedcooperative.org.uk which, on July Method DIWHUPLQLPDOSUHSDUDWLRQ,VRZHGRQWKHVSDUHULGJHV Peel and slice the daikon – not too using the radish plate on my vintage Earthway drill. thinly, say 5mm It was warm and dry in late July and the daikon appeared Sprinkle with salt and leave for 2 hours

within a week, though germination seemed patchy. I had Meanwhile, mix the sugar, water, Photo: David Frost no great hopes for the crop and gave it little attention. In Japan, they grate or vinegar and sake in a saucepan and As it turned out, some thinning at this stage would have been ÀQHO\ VOLFH GDLNRQ DQG to bring to the boil timely and over the following weeks the plants grew strongly, soon serve it with mizuna Stir till the sugar dissolves then producing a good stand with few gaps. By mid-September they in salads; they cook it remove from heat were beginning to bear an optimistic resemblance to the crops in in soups and noodle Rinse the sliced daikon and drain well northern Japan and we started harvesting on September 20 – seven dishes, in Put the daikon in a jar then add the ZHHNV DIWHU VRZLQJ 0U 0DWVXED\DVKL·V ZHUH UHDG\ LQ  GD\V  batter and they use it liquid mixture and screw up the lid The roots proved to have grown as strongly as the leaf, weighing in for the popular takuan Leave the pickle for 2 days to develop its typically around 1 kilo. The best were straight, unblemished with a pickle. We slice daikon IXOOÁDYRXU LI\RXFDQZDLWWKDWORQJ  FKDUDFWHULVWLFJUHHQÁXVKZKHUHWKHURRWVKDGKHDYHGWKHPVHOYHV and sprinkle it with salt out of the soil. This part of the root is the sweetest, the middle to go with almost any meal, or as a starter. below-soil white root has a sharper taste and the lower root end is Lawrence Hills also talks about the nutritional value of the radish the hottest. They needed grading however. The un-thinned plants noting it as rich in iron with more vitamin C than any of the grew ever closer and twined together, while roots whose growth other root crops. We now also know from the extensive research was impaired by the ubiquitous stones that are a feature of our soils literature that daikon has high anti-carcinogenic potential and is no longer grew straight and usually snapped off at harvest. rich in phytochemicals and glucosinolates. $VWKHPLOG6HSWHPEHUJDYHZD\WRWKHÀUVWFROGVQDSRI2FWREHU In 2018, marketing daikon proved disappointing compared to my it was time to think about harvesting all the plants, many of which previous experience of retailing mooli and our current wholesale were already threatening to bolt. By this time the roots were also DQGUHWDLOFXVWRPHUVIRXQGWKHPGLIÀFXOWWRPRYH1RGRXEWWKH falling prey to attack by soil pests like wireworm and market quality best sales will be in areas with discerning and ethnically diverse was declining, nonetheless this was an unexpectedly successful customers as - call them daikon or mooli - they are very popular crop with the yield surpassing roots like carrots or parsnips. among the peoples of South Asia who prize them for their culinary , FKHFNHG WR ÀQG KRZ EHVW WR VWRUH WKHP DQG LQ KLV  Grow and health-giving properties. If you have the market, daikon are a Your Own Fruit and Vegetables our erstwhile guru Lawrence Hills crop worth considering. Delicious. recommended the variety ‘Japanese All Seasons,’ “to sow at the David Frost end of July… to lift as October ends, to store in peat and cook as SDUVQLSVZLWKDUDGLVKÁDYRXUµ 3 

Page 15 - The Organic Grower - No 45 Winter 2018