Takuan

Traditional takuan

Takuan (Japanese: 沢庵, also spelled takuwan) or takuan-zuke (沢庵漬け), known as danmuji (단무지) in Korean, is pickled daikon radish. Takuan is often served alongside other types of tsukemono in traditional Japanese cuisine. In Korea, it is a common banchan served with bunsik (light meal or snack) as well as Korean Chinese dishes. It is also enjoyed at the end of meals as it is thought to aid digestion.

Production

The first step in the traditional process of making takuan is to hang a daikon radish in the sun for a few weeks until it becomes dehydrated and flexible. Next, the daikon is placed in a pickling crock and covered with a mix of salt, rice bran, optionally sugar, daikon greens, kombu, perhaps chilli pepper and/or dried persimmon peels. A weight is then placed on top of the crock, and the daikon is allowed to pickle for several months. The finished takuan is usually yellow in color and quite pungent, though most mass-produced takuan uses salt or syrup to reduce the dehydration time, and is colored artificially. Iburi-gakko (lit. smoked takuan) is eaten in Akita Prefecture. It is smoked rather than sun-dried before pickling.

History

Takuan Sōhō is credited with concocting this yellow pickle, which now bears his name.^[1]

Usage

Usually, takuan is washed with water, the excess brine removed and it is sliced thinly before serving. It is eaten as a side dish in meals, and eaten as a snack at teatime. Strip-cut takuan is often used for bento. Traditional takuan—using sun-dried daikon radish and pickled in rice bran bed—is sometimes stir fried or braised when getting older and sour. Some sushi rolls use strip-cut takuan for ingredients such as shinkomaki (takuan only), torotaku-maki (fatty tuna and takuan).

Gallery

• 
  Takuan
• 
  Onion, danmuji, and chunjang (typically served in Korean Chinese restaurants)

See also

• Pickled radish
• List of foods named after people
• List of pickled foods

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Takuan.