Pickled “Takuan” daikon and cream cheese 沢庵とクリームチーズ

 Among the Japanese pickles, “Takuan or Takuwan*” 沢庵 is common and traditionally made from “Daikon” 大根. My mother (and many other “mothers’) used to make it at home in the traditional way. First the daikon was hung to dry and then mixed with salt, rice bran and other ingredients in a wooden tub. Weights (often river rocks) were placed on a wooden lid which was slightly smaller than the opening.  It was then left to ferment for several months.  (In my mother’s case, it was left in the root cellar). In my childhood, it was a common fall scene to see daikon out hanging to dry often on the rack used to dry clothes. Nowadays, the vast majority of takuwan is produced commercially. The takuwan has a characteristic yellow color which traditionally came from a type of fruit called “Kuchinashi” クチナシ or “Gardenia” (this is just for color not for flavor) but commercial products may use other yellow food coloring.

*Growing up in Sapporo, Hokkaido, we always pronounced it “Takuwan” but elsewhere in Japan, it may be pronouced as “Takuan”.

In any case, when I was picking up our take-out order of sashimi and sushi at Tako Grill the other day, I saw a package of “Takuwan”. I have not had takuwan for many years but I am sure I was influenced by seeing a YouTube episode which featured a dish made of takuwan with cream cheese which the host clearly announced he did not like and thought it was very strange. I thought it was a very interesting combination and wanted to try it. After coming home, I tasted the takuwan and it was kind of salty and sweet at the same time and nicely crunchy. After a quick Internet consultation, I made two variations and served them with crackers.

The first one (shown on the left) is cream cheese flavored with miso mixed with juliennes of takuwan and carrot. The second shown on the right is made with cream cheese, soy sauce, and takuwan.

Ingredients and Directions (Miso flavored):
50gram cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 tsp of miso (I used “awase miso” 合わせ味噌 or mixture of “red” and “white” miso)
Takuwan and Carrot , thin juliennes, arbitrary amount

Mix everything.

 

The second one is a soy sauce flavored cream cheese with small dice of takuwan and topped with freshly cracked black pepper.

Ingredients and Directions (soy sauce flavored):

50gram cream cheese, softened at room temheprature

small dices of takuwan, amount arbitrary

A mixture of soy sauce and wasabi to taste

Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Mix everything.

Unlike the YouTube sequence which inspired me to try this dish, our assessment which differed from that of the host was that both were quite good and went well with the Cabernet we were having. The first one with miso has more complex flavors and lots of umami. The second one definitely needed the cracked pepper. Sweet and salty and peppery with some crunch from the takuwan went well.