Freezing winter is really in the Union Square Greeenmarket. Before the vendors disappear enjoy the daikon recipes (below) with locally grown root.
1. Quick Daikon Pickles
Cut daikon into 1/4-inch square x 3-inch long strips. Toss the daikon strips in a bowl with 2% of salt to the weight of daikon, and leave it for 10 minutes. Quickly rinse the salted daikon in a sieve. Drain and squeeze the strips and transfer it to a dry bowl. Toss the daikon with a mixture of rice vinegar, shoyu, salt and sugar. Add a little red pepper flakes if you like.
2. Daikon and Dried Apricot Salad
Cut daikon into julienne strips, 5-inch long. Cut the stem of kaiware sprouts. Reconstitute dried wakame and drain. Cut dried apricot into thin slices. Mix daikon strips, kaiware sprouts, wakame, apricot and white sesame seeds. Serve the salad with shoyu-sesame oil dressing. [Dressing: 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 tablespoons shoyu, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon canola oil, 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil, salt to taste]