Daikon and Carrot Pickles (Namasu)

Posted September 29th, 2010 in Food 1 Comment »

This dish is one of the Japanese new year food, but it is so easy to make and can be eaten as side dish and a bento item as well. A great hashiyasume (“chopstick rester”).

With very simple ingredients, you can make this marinade in less than 5 minutes. Namasu can be made with any ingredients – uncooked (“nama”) vegetables and/or seafood. I also like cucumber namasu, but this daikon and carrot namasu is the very standard namasu eaten in Japan.

<Daikon and Carrot Namasu> makes a bowlful

1/3 daikon radish (around 300g)
1/2 carrot
1 tsp lemon rind, very thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
3 tbs vinegar
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp roasted white sesame seeds

Slice carrot and daikon very thinly. You can use the slicer if you have.
Place daikon, carrot and lemon rinds in a bowl, and sprinkle with salt. Let it stand for 5 minutes.
Mix vinegar and sugar in another bowl.
Squeeze out the liquid from daikon mixture, and marinate in the vinegar mixture. Sprinkle sesame seeds.

* You can eat them straight away, but it tastes better if you marinate little longer in the fridge.