Daikon soup recipe
This Taiwanese style daikon soup (蘿蔔湯) tastes light, savory, yet subtly sweet. Ready in 30 minutes, it'll keep you warm and healthy all winter long.
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 16 oz. Daikon 1 large
- 3.5 oz. carrots 1 medium
- 0.3 oz ginger sliced, half of one small thumb size
- 3 bulb scallions sliced, separate white and green parts
- 1 tbsp neutral flavored oil
- 3 cup chicken stock
- 0.5 tsp coarse sea salt or to taste
- 0.5 tbsp Toasted sesame oil or to taste
- 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce or more to taste
- Small dash ground white pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the daikon: Rinse and scrub the daikon. Use a vegetable peeler to peel away the outer layer skin. Make a small slice to trim away the tip ends. Dice it into rounds, about 0.5-inch (1.27 cm) thickness then stack a few rounds and slice them into half moon shape.
- Prepare carrot: Do the same with the carrot: rinse, peel away the outer layer, slice into 0.5-inch thickness rounds.
- Saute aromatics: In a large 4-quart size soup pot, saute the ginger and white scallion parts with 1 tbsp oil over medium heat until fragrant, about 1.5 minutes.
- Add the daikon, carrots, and stock. Cover with a lid. If the lid doesn’t have an air venting hole, leave the cover slightly ajar to prevent the soup from spilling over.
- Simmer daikon: Simmer the soup over medium heat until you can easily poke through the radish with a chopstick without much resistance, about 15-20 minutes. To tell when the daikon is cooked through, besides inserting a chopstick, the daikon color also turns from pale white to a more translucent color yet the texture is still firm and not mushy.
- Taste & Season: Taste the broth and season with salt, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and white pepper. Taste and adjust.
- Garnish & Serve: Garnish with green scallion parts. Ladle the soup to individual serving bowls. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
- Vegetarian-Friendly Flavor Boost: If you're using vegetable stock, add a few teaspoons of shiitake mushroom bouillon powder or Vegetarian dashi powder to enhance the broth's depth and umami flavor.
- Storage & Reheating: Store the soup in a sealed container in the fridge for 4-5 days. When reheating, use the stovetop over medium heat or a microwave until it's warmed through. You’ll notice the daikon turns more translucent with each reheating, and the flavors become even milder and naturally sweet.
- Daikon Soup Flavor Profile: This soup is light, aromatic, and subtly sweet—like a comforting home-cooked meal straight from your mother’s kitchen.
- Daikon substitute for soup: White turnips can replace daikon in soups, especially in hearty broths. They have a slightly spicier, earthier taste compared to daikon's mild sweetness. For a milder flavor, soak the slices in room temperature water for a few hours before adding them to your soup to reduce their spiciness.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 74kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 339mg | Potassium: 335mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2768IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg