Thanks to Kei‘s recent suggestion, I had an acceptable turnip experience this week. On a comment to my “Calling all turnip lovers” post, she suggested a method of preparing little turnips that she called pickling. I’m not sure her method (salt, cover, weight, wait) technically qualifies as pickling, and I’m sure the food safety folks would protest, but it worked for me.
Not wanting to overcommit, I trimmed just two (count ‘em) small white turnips of greens and taproot, washed them, halved them, salted them generously (cut and uncut sides) and placed them in a bowl. I topped them with foil and another bowl filled with water. I left them on the counter and waited three days.
Then, I lifted off the water-filled bowl and foil and inspected my little turnips, now swimming in almost clear fluid. I pour off the liquid, rinsed the turnips and sliced them. I took a slice and ate it. Crunchy. Salty, but not oppressively so. Only mildly turnipy. Not bad.
Since I wasn’t ready to make Kei’s recommended accompaniments, I tossed them on top of a pile of Wakarusa Valley mesclun, added a little vinaigrette and had a nice little salad.
It would have looked more appetizing if I’d added some tomatoes, but that’s not the point. The point is they were pretty good, and for me and turnips, pretty good is great. And they couldn’t have been simpler to make.
Meanwhile, foodperson readers, my recent post about butternut squash ravioli caught the eye of a local reporter, bringing me a few minutes of fame. The story includes a recipe I use for a really delicious butternut vegetable soup. Unlike the in-print story, the online version also includes a recipe for butternut squash ravioli the way I made it.
Kei // Oct 19, 2007 at 1:01 am
Yaaaaay! I can’t tell you how happy I am that you tried that turnip recipe out and you liked it. People are often reluctant to try their hand at making plain old Japanese food of the kind that people eat every day, and that’s too bad. It’s not all sushi and you don’t have to be some wizened old man from Niigata to do it.
Here’s an even easier variation on the same theme from one of America’s oldest Asian seed companies:
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/recipes.html#daikontsukemono
well, it could be pickling if the salt/water ratio were correct to start a lacto-fermentation process
Janet Majure // Oct 19, 2007 at 8:30 am
Hi, Kei. They really couldn’t have been easier, and I’ll definitely do them again. I appreciate the tip and, obviously, you can use these turnips even if you aren’t doing a whole Japanese meal. Thanks!
Ed, I didn’t know if it would count since the water in the dish was from the turnips themselves, but maybe the effect is the same. Let’s call them pickled, just as Kei does.