Sichuan Red Beauty Radishes

I'm not a huge radish fan, but I got suckered in by all the seed catalogs and felt the intense need to buy radish seeds of all kinds as if I needed them. Maybe I had a craving for pickles at the time- I'm betting I went out, bought some daikon, made the pickles, and got over it. But a few weeks later the seeds came and I dutifully planted them. 

These are by far one of the most beautiful plants I have ever grown, and now I think I haven't given the radish family enough credit. Radishes are AMAZING!!

The only problem is, my radish repertoire is pretty limited. In a Persian salad, in a regular salad, on an open faced sandwich. Daikon, or icicle radish, I always use to make Korean pickles. I did an internet search and didn't find much. Specialtyproduce.com had an interesting blurb on the history of radishes in China, along with a proverb I liked: "Eating pungent radish and drinking hot tea, let the starved doctors beg on their knees." Cute, but it hardly made it sound more appetizing. The root is a stunning red, and sliced it is a work of art. Raw, it was definitely on the spicy side. 

My friend recommended a Chinese instant pot recipe that looked really good. I didn't have pork spare ribs, which would have been exceptional, but I used pork steaks instead and added in the greens. Cooked, the leaves and root couldn't have been more mild. More like a sweet turnip, absolutely no spiciness. I lost the link to the recipe! I had hoped to use it again in the fall with spare ribs, but now I'll have to research it all over again. Not a tragedy. 

I will certainly grow this again in the fall!