What Is Daikon and How Can I Use It?

In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleWhat Is Daikon?Daikon vs. RadishNutrition FactsHealth BenefitsHow to Cook with It

In This ArticleView All

View All

In This Article

What Is Daikon?

Daikon vs. Radish

Nutrition Facts

Health Benefits

How to Cook with It

Common in traditional Japanese food and other Asian cuisines, daikon is a white, crunchy root vegetable that can brighten up meals, adding texture and sweet flavor to dishes and condiments. Cubed, grated or sliced, it adds bite and character to anything it’s in.

Daikon, sometimes called winter radish, is a root vegetable that is long and tubular. Daikon radishes have a crispy texture and are mild in flavor with a slightly peppery bite. They are commonly white in color with leafy green tops, but they also come in a variety of colors and shapes.

Daikon andradishesare from the same family, but there are a few differences. The red radishes we slice and toss into salads are much smaller and sharper in flavor than the radishes used in Japanese cuisine. Red radishes are peppery ,whereas the white radish is mild and slightly sweet.

There is also mu, which is the Korean radish. The Korean radish is a type of daikon radish. It’s similar to the long white Japanese radish, but it’s shaped more like a potato. Another type of radish is called the watermelon radish, a variety of Chinese radish. It has the same texture and crunch as Japanese and red radishes but is green on the outside, pink on the inside and has a mellower flavor.

Daikon Nutrition

Daikon is a low-calorie, nutritious vegetable. Every 1 cup of daikon contains:

Daikon Health Benefits

Daikon has about three-quarters of the potassium of abananaand half the amount ofvitamin Cin an orange. It also contains small amounts of fiber, folate, calcium and magnesium. With its decent amount of nutrients, daikon may offer some health benefits.

Promotes Wound Healing

Daikon is an excellent source of vitamin C, an essential nutrient that promotes wound healing,collagen productionand more.

Protects Against Cell Damage

May Help Stabilize Blood Sugar

Daikon, a non-starchy vegetable, has minimal carbohydrates, making it an ideal vegetable for people with diabetes to include in their diet. It is also considered a low glycemic food, which measures how quickly a food will raise blood sugar. It has been noted in research that eating non-starchy vegetables with a low glycemic index, such as daikon, are ideal to include in the diets of individuals with type 2 diabetes, as they can help with blood sugar control.

Cooking with Daikon

There are many ways to serve white radishes—cooked or raw. Raw daikon works well in salads and slaws, as a side dish for summer picnics or thinly sliced andpickledfor sandwiches that need a pick-me-up (a classicVietnamese banh mi sandwichis typically topped with pickled carrots and daikon, for example). It’s also great in stir-fries cooked with meat—cooking radishes yields soft, starchy chunks similar to potatoes. You can also swap out red radishes for daikon in many recipes.

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SourcesEatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.U.S. Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central.Radishes, oriental, raw.Orouji N, Asl SK, Taghipour Z, Habtemariam S, Nabavi SM, Rahimi R.Glucosinolates in cancer prevention and treatment: experimental and clinical evidence.Med Oncol. 2023;40(12):344. doi:10.1007/s12032-023-02211-6Peres M, Costa HS, Silva MA, Albuquerque TG.The health effects of low glycemic index and low glycemic load interventions on prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A literature review of RCTs.Nutrients. 2023;15(24):5060. doi:10.3390/nu15245060

Sources

EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.U.S. Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central.Radishes, oriental, raw.Orouji N, Asl SK, Taghipour Z, Habtemariam S, Nabavi SM, Rahimi R.Glucosinolates in cancer prevention and treatment: experimental and clinical evidence.Med Oncol. 2023;40(12):344. doi:10.1007/s12032-023-02211-6Peres M, Costa HS, Silva MA, Albuquerque TG.The health effects of low glycemic index and low glycemic load interventions on prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A literature review of RCTs.Nutrients. 2023;15(24):5060. doi:10.3390/nu15245060

EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central.Radishes, oriental, raw.Orouji N, Asl SK, Taghipour Z, Habtemariam S, Nabavi SM, Rahimi R.Glucosinolates in cancer prevention and treatment: experimental and clinical evidence.Med Oncol. 2023;40(12):344. doi:10.1007/s12032-023-02211-6Peres M, Costa HS, Silva MA, Albuquerque TG.The health effects of low glycemic index and low glycemic load interventions on prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A literature review of RCTs.Nutrients. 2023;15(24):5060. doi:10.3390/nu15245060

U.S. Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central.Radishes, oriental, raw.

Orouji N, Asl SK, Taghipour Z, Habtemariam S, Nabavi SM, Rahimi R.Glucosinolates in cancer prevention and treatment: experimental and clinical evidence.Med Oncol. 2023;40(12):344. doi:10.1007/s12032-023-02211-6

Peres M, Costa HS, Silva MA, Albuquerque TG.The health effects of low glycemic index and low glycemic load interventions on prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A literature review of RCTs.Nutrients. 2023;15(24):5060. doi:10.3390/nu15245060