Quick-pickled radish & stir-fried radish tops
Radishes are often overlooked and underutilized in the kitchen. The strength of flavour varies between the varieties. The most common variety, the small round red ones, are mild and fresh with a slight heat to them. They are delicious raw or lightly pickled as done in this recipe. The leaves and stalks are perfectly edible and are tasty when cooked or steamed.
Ingredients
- bunch of radishes (approx. 200g)
- 150ml white wine vinegar
- 50g caster sugar
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 star anise
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 small red chilli
- small piece of ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 10g coriander
- roasted peanuts, to serve
Method
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Step 1
Cut the stems and leaves off the radishes and wash thoroughly; pick out and discard any that don’t look fresh and vibrant.
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Step 2
Thinly slice the radishes, taking your time and try and get them as even and as thin as possible (use your sharpest knife).
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Step 3
In a saucepan, prepare the pickling liquor. Heat the vinegar with a splash of water, add the sugar and salt and stir until it has dissolved. Add the mustard seeds, fennel seeds and star anise then turn off the heat. Add the radishes, mix and decant into a shallow dish or bowl and leave to cool.
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Step 4
Thinly slice the garlic and chilli, and grate about 1tsp worth of ginger. Chop the coriander, and roughly chop the peanuts.
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Step 5
Heat a wok or frying pan on a high heat and add a splash of vegetable oil. Once hot, add the garlic, chilli and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds, keeping them moving so that they don’t burn. Add the radish tops and soy sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
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Step 6
Drain the radishes from the liquor (retain the liquor for future use, try using with red onions, or ribbons of carrot or courgette). Place on top of the cooked leaves and garnish with chopped coriander and toasted peanuts