Teczcape-An Escape to Food

Japanese dried radish is mild-flavored and relatively sweet than saltish compared to its Chinese counterpart preserved turnips/radish (菜圃 Cai-Pu). Mildly-sweet coming from the concentrated sugars in daikon when it is being dried, this dried radish can be used in egg omelettes and stir-fry vegetables.


I recalled a wok-fried green beans dish served in a vegetarian restaurant that does a vegetarian version of wok-fried/stir-fried green beans (干煸四季豆) with dried radish. This meatless dish is a delicious copy of the real deal typically briskly wok-fried with ground meat in high heat and hot oil.

To have it home-cooked, what is a less-grease, fuss-free way to achieve restaurant-style light char on the streaky green beans yet retaining the moist succulence of the green beans?

This autumn-worthy fruit and vegetables salad complements with roasted salmon, herb-roasted trout, spiced-roasted chicken or any of these sandwiches and wraps.

Enjoy the burst of juice from the grapes and crunch from the apples while the salad is being enjoyed. The grapes, apples and tomatoes adds natural sweetness and tang to the salad, perfectly balanced with the sharper-pungent garlic and onions, salad greens, mild peppery spicy watermelon radish and sweet bell peppers.

I never knew I could prepare radishes this way. I should have known earlier. What vegetables can't be steamed? Perhaps red radishes passes off too easily as raw or roasted in salads; and steaming just slipped my mind. Personally, I prefer steamed radishes much much better than roasted ones e.g. Roasted Radish and Fennel.

Steamed radishes is also very easy to prepare. Skin-on, steamed whole, for about 12-15 minutes.


Raw radishes add a peppery, satisfying crunch to salads while steamed radishes with skin-on actually taste sweet, with no traces of the sharp and peppery flavors even when the radishes are skin-on. I can eat eight to ten whole steamed radishes at one go! It is harder to consume that amount when used raw in salads.

Radishes are a good source of vitamin C and contains powerful antioxidant flavonoids - zeaxanthin, lutein, and beta carotene. Radishes are usually sold with the nutritious greens still attached at the tops. These leaves tops have a characteristic peppery, yet somewhat pungent flavor, similar to radishes. What is good about this dish is using up the entire bunch of radish with the greens at the same time. Isn't that the best case scenario in which fresh produce can be used as quickly as possible?

This Farmers' Market Salad is made with organic salad vegetables, watermelon radish, sweet peppers - all from the farmers' market.


Piled below the grilled/roasted shrimps, eggs and avocado is a fresh mix of salad vegetables - organic heirloom red spinach, red dandelions, baby kale and lettuces.

From the farmers' market

Lately, I enjoy salads that can be partially prepared in advance e.g. radish and sweet peppers are prepared and sliced, set aside; eggs already hard-boiled (part of routine meal preparation).

Come meal-time, roast/grill the shrimps for a healthy, delicious and nutritious salad bowl meal e.g. Asparagus, Cauliflower, Quinoa Bowl, that can be assembled very quickly.

Traditionally, Kiriboshi daikon (dried shredded daikon-radish) is white daikon-radish shredded into strips then dried in the sun. The drying process brings out the sweetness, and concentrates the fiber and mineral content typically calcium, iron, magnesium.

Compared to the typical heavily-salted Chinese preserved radish (sometimes used in fried egg omelette), Japanese dried shredded daikon has no added salt or sugar, thus much healthier.


As I do not cook traditional Japanese dishes at home, how about giving a new spin on a Chinese stir-fry with this Japanese ingredient?

Roast is the way to go when it comes to salads e.g. Ratatouille-Style Roast, Roasted Artichokes, Mushrooms and Chickpea Salad in the winter months.

I am often hooked on words or key words such as  "one-pot pasta", "one-pot rice", "no-cook tomato sauce", "one-skillet noodles", "rice-cooker dinner","cheat-sheet", so it is not surprising when I am attracted to the concept of "dress-itself" salad.

Simply, a salad that does not need any dressing.


That leaves you an easy guess to my cooking style at home. Everything has to be straight-forward, easy, simple without forgoing most importantly, nutrition and health.


If you cook often at home, you will know what this means. It is not so much about achieving the perfect texture and/or taste but more, the feeling of comfort when food gets to the table.

Radish curry paired with radish leaves spiced rice can be such a warm and satisfying dinner in the chilly nights of spring time. However, when I run out of time, curry with rice is definitely not my game to play in the kitchen.

How about putting the red-globe radish under the roast-radar? Does that save time? Yes, in my opinion, it is fuss-free cooking as I do not have to be behind a stove - stir a pot of curry and watch over another pot of simmering rice. All I have to do is to prep (rinse, cut, slice) the ingredients, and by then, 80% of the work has been done.


Raw radish, crisp and refreshing, might be piquant and peppery for some of you; but roasted radish is THE complete-makeover - sweet and juicy!

Watermelon radish has been on my to-try list for some time. The spiral pinkish-purple hue circular striations towards the center of this radish flesh is what first attracted me when I saw them on several food websites. I failed to find them during last summer (as I thought radish is more or less summer produce). Of course I have missed them because it is actually a cool-weather crop!


Do you know that watermelon radish is actually heirloom Chinese Daikon? Watermelon radish has tender-crisp flesh and subtly sweet, mild (only slightly peppery compared to standard radish) flavors. With almost no bitter sting, that makes watermelon radish perfect for salad. Even it has a little bitter sting, a salad of watermelon radish mixed with citrus fruits, berries, and buttery avocado finished with avocado-vinaigrette is sure to mask any bitter notes of the radish.


If there is a bottom-of-the-jar trick for peanut butter to make salad dressing, then I like using this bottom-of-the-avocado trick for making avocado-vinaigrette after using the firmer avocado flesh as part of the salad.

Small globe radishes can be sliced razor-thin, used in salads; but they can also be kept whole while being cooked in a quick curry-stew.


What do you do with the radish-top leaves which often have a sharp, bitter-peppery taste especially when used fresh?


Recently I found a new way to incorporate the leaves - in Indian-style spiced rice. This is the simplest vegetable biryani to cook, over the stove. Conveniently, you can also add freezer-friendly peas and corns, even carrots but here I am just using fresh carrots, and radish tops, that's all.

Red Globes Radishes and their greens are excellent sources of vitamin C. Radish leaves contain almost 6x the vitamin C content of their roots and far more calcium and protein than the roots. Red  Radish is a very good source of the trace mineral molybdenum, potassium and folic acid. Radishes provide a very good source of potassium and copper. Fresh radish roots contain more vitamin C than cooked radish roots. Many enjoy fresh radish in salad e.g. Arugula, Grapefruit, Radish Salad, while I use the fresh roots in smoothies.

Some wishes never get fulfilled. Sometime ago, I had a "vision" to make Dried Daikon/Radish Egg Omelet (菜圃蛋 Cai Pu Dan in Mandarin or ChaiPo-Neng in dialect) and ended up with Fresh Daikon Egg Omelet. That was tasty, but few steps away from the real deal.

The best real deal, of course, is to make my own ChaiPo and cook ChaiPo Egg Omelet. That has not happened and I am not sure when it will.


However, when I chanced upon dried radish (image above) in the nearby Japanese Marukai supermarket, I thought - maybe THIS will work? Not that I cannot get the Chinese-style dried radish 菜圃 here but they are always super-high in sodium and most times, contain other preservatives.

This Japanese Kiriboshi-Daikon, at least, is natural; with one (single) ingredient: dried radish.

Red globe radishes (樱桃萝卜/小红萝卜) are easy to use in curry-in-a-hurry in which the radish leaves can be used at the same time; add the raw sharp-flavored radish leaves towards the end of cooking to mellow down its peppery flavors.


I usually do not peel these red globe radishes, as beneficial anti-oxidant allyl-isothiocyanates - the compound that makes the radish peppery and pungent - is concentrated in the peel. Simply rinse to clean the root thoroughly, trim the tip ends. If you have to peel the skin, gently pare away/scrape the superficial thin layer only, with the blunt back of a knife.

This is called Soup-Curry because it is not the kind of thick stew-like curry made from any curry paste or coconut cream. Instead it is more like a spiced tomato-based soup that gets a little kick from a mixture of spices e.g. curry powder, turmeric, coriander and cumin.

Have you heard the Chinese saying: "fall/autumn's daikon is comparable to ginseng" 秋天萝卜是人参? It might be referring to the peak harvest of daikon during the cool season (in fall and winter months) that makes it a good source of Vitamin A, C, fiber, lignin, phosphorus - thus most nutritious and beneficial.

Perhaps, there is also this Chinese food therapy belief that when you consume more health-beneficial daikon during fall/autumn or subsequent winter, you rid the body of toxins accumulated during the often hot and dry summer months which might have tire the body. When you get rid of these toxins, the energy/"qi" in the body can be quickly replenished.


Lamb/goat is also considered warm and nourishing especially when consumed in winter. How about combining lamb and daikon in a Chinese-style soup? The combination of lamb and daikon is not uncommon as it is known to replenish and nourish the body during the cold winter months.

One way to add more bulk to daikon/radish cake is to fry them up with eggs! Sound too familiar? This is almost like fried carrot cake that is very popular in Singapore. Well, the idea is similar but in this case, a simplified version at home, using pieces of daikon cake and scrambling some eggs into it.


There are no leftovers whenever we order pan-fried radish cake Lok Bak Ko in dim-sum restaurants. Lok Bak Ko is one of my favorite dim-sum dish/snack items so no Lok Bak Ko is ever left un-eaten in dim-sum eateries unless they are some pieces that have turned sour (yes, I have been served sour Lok Bak Ko that has turned bad and it REALLY sucks!).

However, if you really do have odd pieces left, just cut them to smaller bite-size pieces and fry them with egg.

As I am not good with using (measuring) flour of any kind (the reason why I don't bake), my understanding of flour is also limited. I always thought that making Chinese radish cake (Lo Bak Ko) is a time-consuming process which involves grating the daikon, cooking the daikon, steaming the daikon-flour mix to form a "cake" (or kuih), then pan-frying the daikon cake. That makes me very resistant and reluctant to take the first step.

But it's (one of) my favorite food!!!


What if there is a short-cut? Skip one step and save at least 25% of the time? What if?

You can skip the pan-frying and have steamed Chinese radish cake. Or skip the steaming, perhaps? I chanced upon a cooking show which practically does that - skip the steaming, directly pan-frying the daikon-flour mix on the pan. Amazed. SOLD.

Certainly, I hope this was better than the last time. Sambar (Sambhar) is a dish I enjoy so I yearn to make improvements every time. As Asian (Chinese) who grew up eating mainly Chinese food, Indian cooking does not come natural for me. However, since Indian cuisine is one of my favorites, I have learn a few home-cooked Indian dishes mainly from my friend's mom who is Indian; and based on what I have tried and tasted.


I kept the choice of vegetables for this vegetarian Sambar (basic cooking instructions found here) much simpler this time with winter melon, radish, green beans and cauliflower.


The correct way to enjoy Sambar is to treat it like a gravy-based dish and NOT a stew-based dish. It was funny when my friend's mother saw how me and my friend ate (or practically, DRANK!) Sambar like a soup-stew. That's not the way! You are supposed to drizzle a little gravy over rice, or dip Indian roti in them.


Right. Just imagine your classic Chinese Ginger-Soy Sauce Chicken in which we usually scoop gravy over the rice, mix it up, then eat it. Sambar should be treated and enjoyed the same way. For her to see us eat Sambar like a soup-stew, is like sending spoonfuls of ginger-soy sauce from the chicken dish, straight from the plate to the mouth.


It is less than 20 days to Thanksgiving. So how about a Vegetarian dish for Vegetarian Thanksgiving, also November 2011 theme for Healing Foods - hosted at Sreelu's Tasty Travels ?

What is your wish-list this Thanksgiving?

Tag: indian sambar, vegetarian

I have been enjoying a variety of quinoa salads this summer. Sometimes kept simple like this Turmeric-Infused Quinoa Salad with Broccoli; or this Radish, Raisins and Cauliflower Quinoa Salad; whereas today - Roasted Cauliflower Quinoa with Nori Seaweed


doing more to the cauliflower instead of blanching them; adding some minty leaves and nori seaweed - bringing in the aroma of spices and herbs to full swing.

Salads eases us into hot summer. Last year, it was smoothie craze. This year, salads.


Which reminded me - I have not even used my Ninja Master Prep Professional Blender, Chopper and Ice Crusher More Powerful & 2x Faster this year!

For today, this salad is made from farm-fresh radish (red, white, pink), juicy grapefruit, peppery arugula, sprinkled with some plump sweet raisins.


Do you like dressing in your salad? Personally I don't. You may start to wonder - how then does the fruits and veggies carry one another as one entity?

Making salads out of quinoa is a recent discovery for me in terms of utilizing quinoa as the ingredient. Since then, I have been making quinoa salad repeatedly and frequently because it is just so easy to prepare, definitely nutritious and very flavorful. There are some elements I've added to my quinoa salad this time.

Dried fruits such as raisins that add sweetness pop and plump softness.


Thin slices of red radishes adding textural crisp and bite...

There is no recipe or specific topic today. Just sharing the typical home-cooked fare at home; dishes that are enjoyed with steamed rice or plain congee. When more time can be expended, a few dishes will be cooked (e.g. Garlic Kale and Daikon Fried Egg) for one meal...

Garlic Kale: Organic kale stir-fried with garlic for 10 minutes or less, pinch of salt and white pepper to taste. USD2.00 for bunch of organic kale.

This pasta sauce looks much better than the previous Tomato-Chicken Curry Sauce. Like how Chef Michael Symon judges a winning burger by its form factor: bun to patty ratio, I guess it also applies to a decent pasta: pasta to sauce ratio.

Previously, there is just too little sauce. I usually don't use canned tomatoes of any sorts when I cook my pasta sauce. I start it off with fresh tomatoes. Evidently, such a sauce may not be as rich as that served in pasta cafes/restaurants, but I do enjoy the wholesome-ness of homemade sauce with solely fresh tomatoes. Personal preference, really. How about you?