Are you a radish buff?
I have been on a mission ever since I experimented recently with those turnips. This week it’s radishes or turp in Turkish. Here in Turkey they are a feature of the winter markets and are in a class of their own.
a colourful market display |
By far and away my favourite is the big red one: crisp, not too spicy, and good with dips. My favourite treatment is to simply peel it and then grate a little with vivid red cabbage and bright orange carrot on a bed of fresh salad greens. This makes for a vibrant, healthy salad which is then drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice. Great with fish or meat.
my favourite winter salad: red radish, carrot and red cabbage |
Now, still using the big reds, you can do something different: take one and chop it up neatly into tiny pieces:
like this |
Mix with pomegranate molasses/ nar ekşişi, flaked red pepper/pul biber, sumac/sumak, parsley and some jewel-red pomegranate seeds with a little olive oil. This is inspired by a similar salad I had at Çiya, the renowned Kadıköy restaurant in Istanbul that specialises in food from south-eastern Turkey.
with the sumac and red pepper flakes |
radish salad with pomegranate and parsley |
black radish salad with tahini |
There is one last type of radish, the so-called çin turbu/Chinese radish or daikon radish, the long thin white one, but honestly I don’t think it’s very interesting.
Tell me how you eat your radishes – I would love to hear!
Afiyet olsun!
Loved this post. In North India, they grate and stuff 'parathas' with a spicy radish filling.
It is also cooked in a spicy lentil dish, Sambhar.
You'll have to tell us what a paratha is!
Interesting ideas! I may give radishes another chance because so far I haven't enjoyed eating them!
Great ideas there Claudia as we're both big fans of radish. We'll definitely be trying some of these out. I love the idea of the one from Çiya. We meant to go to Çiya for my birthday two years ago. We wondered around and couldn't find it and so asked around and no one had heard of it! So we went for Iskender instead and then walked around the corner…and there was Çiya. 🙂 We'll get there soon.
There are 3 Çiyas all on the same little pedestrianized street: 2 serve the amazing southern Turkish food while the other is a great meat place! Call me next time you visit Istanbul!
How do I eat radishes? The Tante Gaby way: you take a whole radish, smear it generously in butter, dip it in salt, and eat. Delicious!
These are the delicious little radishes that come in bunches! I wonder if you could grow them in your garden?
now this is one of my favorite subjects! i adore radishes!!! i love french breakfast radishes with butter, toast and fried eggs. my favorite way to eat daikon is to slice it "see through" thin and layer it on rye bread that has been smeared with good butter ans sprinkled with chives. i crack sea salt on the daikon just before eating. i could eat that every day. i eat big red radishes with pretzel rolls. peel the crust off of pretzel rolls, slice thick slices of red radish and place it in the crust. top it with a piece of good thinly sliced ham or leberkase, add a piece of red onion….Mmmm! radishes in macaroni salad is another favorite.
So you like daikon, eh? I love the way you prepare them – like my sister Alison's way above, good butter does go VERY well!! Are your big red ones like the ones we have here then? I have never seen them in the UK.
I cannot beleive how big those radishes are ! and oh so perfectly red too . I have fond memories of my Mum serving us radish sandwiches for lunch . radishes are more a summer veggie for us but this has triggered a craving I may just have to splurge and purchase a bunch ☺
You have a lovely variety of radishes in your markets. I love thinly sliced radishes added to butter leaf salads and the French breakfast radishes with butter and salt.
Lovely turp recipes Claudia! I love them when shredded with carrots, cabbage and sliced tomatoes like they do at home:)
This was a very interesting post for me, because I've never seen black radishes before. I do eat red radishes though and sometimes will plant them in my backyard in my small garden bed.
My daughter likes them sliced thin with some chopped finely green onions and olive oil and salt.
Your salads look so refreshing……and nice photo's of them.
Thanks for stopping by my Blog and your nice comments.
Are your red ones big like these, or the small variety? Your daughter has the right idea!
Thanks everyone for your great comments! I never thought radishes would be so popular!!
I love these ideas- I'm always looking for more ways to have radishes/turnips.
Sarah @ Homestyle Cooking Around The World
http://homestyleworldcook.blogspot.com