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Preparing
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Radish
Raphanus sativus · Root vegetable
3 varieties40 pairings
The radish is the crisp, peppery swollen root of a fast-growing member of the cabbage and mustard family, eaten raw for its juicy crunch and clean, sinus-tingling bite. The same family of mustard-oil compounds that arms horseradish, wasabi and mustard gives the radish its sharpness, but in a milder, watery, refreshing form that mellows almost completely when cooked. It ranges from the little scarlet salad globe to the great white Asian daikon that anchors East Asian cooking.
Picking a good onedrag
Snapping hard, tops upLimp, pithy, hollow
Shop firmSalads, slaws, tacos, quick pickles.Everyday best
TopsGreen and flopping, no yellow in them
HeftFirm all over, tail bends a little
SkinMatte, a fine cracked line or two
Smell at the stemEarthy and neutral, faintly green
What to look for, from snapping hard, tops up to limp, pithy, hollow.
What one gives you
90%
Usable yield
4.5 g · stem ends and rootlets off
5 g
Typical weight
one specimen
Keeping ittap a band
A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.
Humidity
90–95%
Twist the tops off before storing — the leaves keep drinking from the root — then bag them; bare in dry fridge air they go limp in days.
Airflow
Bagged, not sealed
A perforated or loosely folded bag. Radishes come home wet, and shut in tight with their own damp they slime at the stem end.
Barely notices the fruit bowl
The root gives off almost none and shrugs off what fruit gives it; only the green tops mind, yellowing if they sit long beside apples or pears.