Korean side dishes

[Clodfobble]

There's this wonderful family-run Korean restaurant we go to, and before the meal they serve maybe 10 little bowls of different appetizer-type foods. Steamed seaweed in sesame sauce, sauteed taro root, sticks of cucumbers... There's this one thing that I desperately want to identify, but none of the waiters speak good enough English to be able to tell me what it is, so I'm turning to the Cellar.

It's white, and has the texture of carrot. It's served shredded into long, very thin strips, and pickled. The liquid is not entirely vinegar-based though--it's not nearly as pickly as a dill pickle, or even pickled daikon radish. (I would suspect that it IS daikon, except it's completely white, and all the pickled daikon I've ever seen turns yellow.) It's almost sweet, but still definitely a pickle of some kind. I could eat it by the bucketful, and am really hoping it can be bought in jars at an Asian market, if I could just figure out what it's called. Any ideas?

I think it is a kind of large radish that is pickled. I also like it very much. There is a way to pickle it and keep it white. I have forgotten how, but think it involves blanching and the "pickling" is very watery, sometimes a bit sweet.
Other cultures use it for salads and garnish.
Sorry, I am off of my game today.
They also pickle long-cut tarot and/or a white carrot that can throw you off, damn sneaky Koreans.
I doubt it is that carrot, it is very hard to find and expensive.

[breakingnews]

Pretty sure it's daikon. Nothing else out there with a similar texture, except maybe this other type of white Japanese root, but I've never had that outside of Asia.

You might have to delve into the refrigerator with all the plastic/aluminum containers of chicken feet and pig ears at the Asian market to find it. Usually pickled along with carrots.

I would imagine you could find jars of pickled radish, but I don't know, I've never really looked.

[Pie]

Daikon is white. The Japanese love to pickle it with something (turmeric?) that turns it yellow.
I fast-pickle it with thin-sliced carrot coins: rice wine vinegar, salt, pinch of sugar and chilli flakes brought to a boil, then add veggies, cover and steep 10 minutes, drain veggies into a bowl, chill or serve warm.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Pie

I fast-pickle it with thin-sliced carrot coins: rice wine vinegar, salt, pinch of sugar and chilli flakes brought to a boil, then add veggies, cover and steep 10 minutes, drain veggies into a bowl, chill or serve warm.

How much vinegar to salt? If I get really desperate I could try to make it myself.

[Pie]

Mebbee two cups of vinegar, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar? Start heating the vinegar, and add salt till it tastes "briney" enough. Sorry, I'm never very good at direct recipes.

Oh, and I think I remember using white vinegar once -- cut it with an equal part water to bring down the acidity.

[Pie]

Oh, and here's another variant that looks like it would work, but takes overnight for the pickling.

Pickled Daikon and Carrots Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 pound daikon or other white radish
1 carrot shredded
1 tablespoon canning salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:
Wash, peel and shred radishes if using daikon. Do not peel red globe radishes before shredding. Put vegetables in a bowl, sprinkle on the salt and mix well. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Drain off water and squeeze vegetables as dry as possible.
In a small bowl combine vinegar, sugar and pepper flakes.
Place in a clean quart-size jar and refrigerate overnight or 6-8 hours.

[Clodfobble]

Thanks!