Daikon Radish Cucumber Salad

This daikon radish salad with cucumbers is a bright and flavorful side dish. It has a zesty sesame and rice wine vinegar dressing.

You can use either purple or white daikon radishes for this salad - they both taste great but the purple has a bit more of a colorful pop!

Why You'll Love this Daikon Recipe

This crisp and bright salad has a kicky dressing. It's a perfect side dish for noodles, steak, or a spicy soup. I enjoy eating a large portion of this salad for lunch - it's so refreshing.

This side salad recipe serves 6, but if you'd like to make it for lunch, it will comfortably serve 2 people.

Ingredients for this Radish Salad

Daikon Radish - You'll need two daikon radishes for this recipe. You can use either purple, pink, red, or (the most common type) white daikon. Daikon radishes have a thin outer skin that's edible but tends to get a little scratched up, so I'd recommend removing it with a vegetable peeler before slicing them.

English Cucumber - You'll need one English cucumber for this recipe. English cucumbers are longer and thinner than regular cucumbers, have fewer seeds, and a less bitter taste. If you use a regular cucumber for this recipe you'll need to peel the skin first, but with an English cucumber, there's no peeling necessary.

Sesame Dressing Ingredients - For the sesame dressing you'll need two tablespoons of sesame oil, two teaspoons of rice wine vinegar, one teaspoon of kosher salt, one teaspoon of granulated sugar, a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes, a half teaspoon of ground black pepper, and a half a teaspoon each of white and black sesame seeds.

What is Daikon Radish?

Daikon radish (also called Chinese radish and Japanese radish) is commonly used in East and South Asian cooking. It's similar in flavor to a mild red radish and often grows in large carrot shapes. It's often white, but can also be purple, pink, red, and yellow.

You can find it sold in Asian grocery stores and at farmer's markets.

More Radish Recipes to Try

If you love the slightly peppery bite of a radish, check out some of our other favorite radish recipes.

• Watermelon Radish Toast - beautiful watermelon radishes paired with creamy goat's cheese.
• Radish Tzatziki - radishes and walnuts make for a superior tzatziki blend.
• Brown Butter Radishes with Lemon - a delicious and easy side dish.

Tips for Making this Recipe

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Recommended Tools - I highly recommend using a mandoline to slice your radish and cucumber. It's way faster and you get precise, even slices. You can buy several types of mandolines online. I also suggest getting cut-proof gloves so you don't cut your fingers (mandoline blades are super sharp!)

Storing Tips - This recipe will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you have extra and want to try something else with it, you can place it in a glass jar (with a lid) and pickle it with a mixture of ¼ cup rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and ½ cup warm water.

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