Daikon

Daikon radish come in different shapes, sizes and colours. We grow three cultivars: White, Red and Purple and hope to grow many more of these beauties in the future.

1 September 2021

We pulled the last of the white daikon radish for a couple of months ~ so we’re celebrating the last of the winter daikon this week.

Wild radish is believed to be native to: somewhere between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (Kaneko et al, 2007). Wild radish roots were eaten in Ancient Egypt since 2700 BC, where it was also later cultivated. Radish was introduced and cultivated in China almost 2500 years ago, and in Japan 1300 years ago.

Some researchers believe that varieties of wild radish are actually native to some coastal areas of Japan. They argue that Japanese wild radish traveled with tides and currents, eventually crossing with introduced species of radish along the silk road via contaminated grain, to form other varieties (Kaneko et al, 1993).

Daikon is a water rich root vegetable that is wonderful enjoyed raw in salads, fermented as kimchi, steamed for 10 mins, or roasted. Roasted daikon is very delicious. Add a miso & maple glaze and it gets taken to the next level.

For the maple glaze: Add 1tbsp of miso to 1 tbsp of maple syrup & whisk.

To roast daikon: Cut the daikon into 1cm disks. Roast in the oven at 200C (fan forced) for 20 mins or until the slices become a little caramelised. Add the roasted daikon to the maple glaze in a bowel & coat well. Put the disks back to the oven for 5 mins.

We are in awe of kimchi master Kwang Hee Mama Park, and her dandelion kimchi broke our hearts ~ this interview is legit.

Daikon radish is very often a central ingredient to kimchi. Some researchers argue that the practice of preparing and eating kimchi is some 4000 years old (Jang et al, 2015). Other researchers argue that the practice of eating kimchi is only 100 years old. The contention in the literature seems to surround the introduction of hot chilli plants and wombok cabbages into Korea.

Large kimchi jars remain dug into the ground at the Temple de Beopju in the Chungcheongbuk-do Province, South Korea. This temple has opened its doors for over 1500 years.

If you’d like to read more about this kimchi contention, you can read this paper for free online. We recognise kimchi as being a cultural practice dating back thousands of years. It’s an interesting subject where genome mapping, cultural histories, art and religion all meet.

11 August 2021

Daikon is back this week <3 After having the best law bok gow radish cakes from Tasty Buns on Collins street, Grace was inspired to make some. She used this recipe from Cooking with Dog ~ amazing.

21 April 2021

Purple daikon.
You'll notice cutting into purple daikon that they've got thick purple skins. The purple colour comes from anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are a type of flavonoid that are super healthful! All purple vegetables that carry the anothocyanin trait also tend to be much more fibrous. The thick skin on the purple daikon is a sister trait of the anthocyanins ~ the same goes for purple cabbages, kohlrabi’s & purple sprouting broccoli.

Image source:
Image 1: www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vladimir_Zuev_(professor_of_TSAU)_hold_on_daikon_growing_in_Uzbekistan
Image 2: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618115000451#bib6
Image 3: https-//www.cycleblaze.com/journals/japan2007/day-32-iwakuni-to-tsuwano-we-cross-paths-with-the-velomad-team/

References:
Kaneko Y, Kimizuka-Takagi C, Bang SW, Matsuzawa Y (2007) Radish. In: Kole C., editor. Genome Mapping and Molecular Breeding in Plants. vol. 5. New York: Springer: pp. 141-160
YUKIO KANEKO, YASUO MATSUZAWA, in Genetic Improvement of Vegetable Crops, 1993

Hakurei turnip

Hakurei’s a Tasmanian favourite, they are sweet and juicy.

Hakurei turnips are a different species to European turnips ~ they don't have a thick skin. Instead they are crunchy and sweet, and don't require any cooking. They are great, thinly sliced and raw in salads with vinegar and salt. Having said that, they are fabulous roasted with a little olive oil, miso and pepper.

You can also eat their soft greens too~ chopped in salads or steamed.

Cime di rapa

Cime is one of our favourite greens to eat and grow, its tender stalks and leaves are mild and the flowers are stunning. We are on a life time hunt for a large heading Cime, one day we hope to grow this cultivar!

We welcome cime di rapa, it's the beautiful flowering mustard green in the box. The seed we grow is from Italy, and it's a pretty wild & very popular green eaten all over Italy. The entire stalk is edible- as are the leaves & flowers. Sometimes, if we've got to the harvest a day or two late, some of the thicker stems can be a little woody and it's best to shop them off as you would the ends of asparagus.

Cime di rapa is delicious sautéed with some garlic & olive oil or tossed through pasta. Its also delicious thrown in the bowl, covering winter soups.

Gai lan

The whole Gai lan plant has been cultivated to be delicious: stem, leaves & flowerhead. The stem is sweet and crunchy, and often the most favoured part of this beautiful plant.

Gai lan is fantastic steamed, stir-fried or blanched. It's often served with oyster sauce or garlic ~ we like to enjoy Gai lan blanched, chopped into thirds and covered in this fantastic, easy plant-based Hoisin inspired sauce.

If any folks find the stem to be a little too tough, we recommend blanching the Gail lan stalks just for a minute or two in boiling water before adding it to soups or stir fries.

9 June 2021

This week we are very happy to have grown our very first successful crop of gai lan, or Chinese broccoli for you all.

All of our previous attempts have been irreparably damaged by wind because the gai lan stalk is quite delicate when it's a small seedling. Gai lan is thought to be one of the older cultivars of brassica, and is closely related to broccoli.

Frilly Chinese mustard greens

These Chinese mustard greens have been an unexpected & kinda delightful favourite of the box. They have a beautiful salty flavour all on their own. Both raw & steamed, they are lovely.

This flavourful mustard variety is called Ruby Streaks. Its a famous and common open pollinated variety, and the folks at Kitazawa Seed, who specialise in Asian seed, describe it as an heirloom. There are multiple published studies looking into the anthocyanin make up of Ruby Streaks, and they are really interesting! One of them I found was an experiment of Ruby Streaks growing under different levels of light, the changes in the light produced different distributions of the anthocyanin compounds in the leaves. Some plants grew to look more pink, others were close to blue. These purple compounds will turn your Hot Pot purple, and are super good for all of us to eat and enjoy.

Ruby Streaks is classified as a brassica juncea, the same species as most Indian mustard plants, including the mustards grown for their seed and oil. Although Ruby Streaks has a laced shape just like Mizuna, Mizuna is a different species, its a brassica rapa.

Dylan and I are eagerly awaiting a seed order from Kitazawa Seeds, thats in the post now from the US. We’ve ordered almost every single mustard variety we could, that isnt brassica rapa, as brassica rapa has lots of restrictions and requires expensive seed treatments when entering into Australia.

So we have many fabulous tasty brassica juncea mustards to look forward to, and they’ll join Ruby Streaks.

Wasabina

Wasabina greens are a little reminicent of wasabi flavour, depending on the time of year they are grown they can have a real kick. This fantastic mustard green has been bred in Japan.

To eat Wasabina greens spicy and raw enjoy them in a salad. We tear the greens up into bite sized chunks, and massage them with avocado, soy sauce and lemon juice. They are also great braised, steamed or added to soups!

Enjoy Wasabina greens steamed, cooled and added to nori rolls, or incorporated into a sushi bowl with pickled ginger, tofu and sliced carrots.

Green tomatoes

Green tomato dishes are part of several delicious cuisines from around the world.

We've been trying some recipes out & we actually really enjoy them. Its been surprisingly kind of delightful.

We've truly come to the end of the tomato season ~ and in true market garden style ~ we are embracing the green tomato.

7 April 2021

Italian pomodori verdi sott'olio, or green tomatoes in oil.
Tiziana Mani’s video is beautiful & in Italian ~ if you're like me and unfortunately cant speak any Italian to save yourself, I found this recipe by Lisa Maria Corso that translates well.

Southern Indian pacha thakkali or green tomato, curry~
this recipe by Maya Akhil is delicious!
I substituted the fresh coconut for soaked and re-hydrated desiccated coconut. The green tomatoes add acidity and a kind of fruitiness to the creamy curry that I really enjoy.

And we can't finish a recipe inspiration section all about green tomatoes without offering a recipe for fried green tomatoes ~ southern style!