How to Make pickled Radish

It is amazing how almost everything we eat has been pickled, Like Onions, cabbages, cucumbers, grapes, and a whole lot of other fruits and vegetables. Pickling fruits and vegetables help preserve and improve their usefulness. Radishes are not left out of the pickling dynasty. Radish has been one of the most overlooked root vegetables in most gardens. People might harvest them but still end up tossing them in the trash. Well, not to burst your bubbles but, radishes are much more than their looks. Radish has numerous and astounding health benefits, that if included in your diet, would leave you healthy and fit.

Did you know that you can make pickles out of radish? Of course, you can! And they are absolutely delicious, crunchy, and worth every bite. Radish pickles bring the best out of the radish. In converting your radish to pickles, radish automatically loses its bitter taste. Pickling radish also preserves them for a longer period. Radish pickles are all-too-amazing food that can be eaten alongside other food, including burgers.

The thing about radish pickles is that it serves a lot of purposes besides food. I bet you would want to give a try after reading this article with its numerous health benefits.

 

Radish quick pickled radish

Instead of buying a jar of pickled radish from the grocery why don’t you whip up ingredients and make them yourself? With the easy and quick recipe written below, you are sure to enjoy every bite of your homemade radish.

Ingredients

• 6 medium-sized radishes
• A cup of white vinegar
• A cup of water
• ½ tablespoon white sugar
• ½ tablespoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
• ¼ tablespoon of ground black pepper

Direction on preparation

• Wash radish thoroughly with clean water. Cut off all stems and leaves on the radish.
• Slice radish into tiny slices of any shape. It can be circular, straight, or in cubes. Any shape of your choosing. Note that the more the size, the easier the radish is flavored by the liquid in which it is placed.
• Put the thinly sliced radish in a bowl and produce to make the radish pickle marinade.
• To another bowl, add vinegar, salt, sugar, black peppercorns, grounded black pepper, and water. Stir the contents of the bowl for 2-3 minutes so the ingredients can evenly mix.
•  Transfer radish from the bowl into a Mason or Kerr jar and then add the prepared marinade.
• Seal the jar properly and refrigerate it until you are ready to use it.

Is pickled radish healthy?

The answer to this question is a resounding, yes! The fact that radish is a nutritional powerhouse that automatically makes anything that comes from it is equally healthy. Radish might not have been your favorite root vegetable, but the ever crunchy, ever sweet and salty and amazing radish pickles change everything. The smell might discourage you but do not be fazed. Radish pickles are worth every bite.

1. High on fiber: Because of the high fiber content of radish and in the vinegar, it can be included in your keto diet. Include radish pickles to your salad and toast instead of potatoes and watch your weight loss take a great turn. Also, the fiber contents help to aid easy digestion and metabolism.
2. Protects the heart: Eating radish pickles helps lower your chances of being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. It protects the heart function and also maintains blood pressure.
3. Rescues our red blood cells: Radish is attributed to controlling damage to red blood cells.
4. Vitamins contained in radish provide immunity: Radish contains vitamins that help to improve our immunity. This, in turn, helps in preventing us from falling sick often from diseases like common cold and cough.

Health is a very important aspect of human existence, hence, radish is equally important. Eat radish in any form you want but make sure you never dispose of it.

How long can you keep pickled radish?

Pickled radish can be preserved for a long time. But the highest duration is 6 months, anything longer than 6 months is considered spoilt and automatically dangerous to your health. Refrigeration has been found to be the best way in keeping radish pickles. Never forget to refrigerate your pickled radish, as that reduces the shelf life.

How do you preserve radishes?

Knowing how to properly preserve food is of high importance. If you know how to properly preserve food, there would hardly be any reason to throw remnants away. Waste is something almost every human on earth is guilty of. So, how do you preserve food—in this case, radish?

I am guilty as charged; I used to throw my extra radishes away. I would harvest so much from my garden and end up using a small amount for my family and me. Well, everything changed when I discovered some amazing ways to preserve so that my family could enjoy radishes in its fullness. If you have ever been in this situation or you are in this situation, then, this is for you. Below are some effective ways to store your radishes.

1. Store in a Kerr or Mason jar: So, you experienced a bountiful harvest of radish from your garden and now, you do not know what to do with them? Look no further as you can properly them in a Kerr or Mason jar for future use.

Before storing them in a jar, there are things you have to take care of. Firstly, you remove the roots, leaves, stems by trimming them. Note that the radish tends to become dry and wilted in less than a day if you don’t do this first.

Next, shake off excess soil on the body of the radish and wash thoroughly with clean water. After washing, place in a Mason or Kerr jar and fill the jar with cold water to preserve the radish’s crunchy nature. With this kind of storage, your radish is estimated to stay fresh for a week or even longer. You can even present a jar of radish as a gift to a coworker, a family member, or close friends. To spice things, tie a colorful ribbon around the jar cover.

Freeze them:

refrigeration has served the human race in countless ways. I cannot begin to imagine how life would have been without a refrigerator. Hence, the need to use it in storing your radish. Freezing radish involves six steps as given below;

2. Cut off all the stem and leaves on the radish. Please do not throw them away as they are also important to your diet.
3. Wash the radish off of any dirt found on the skin. Make sure to wash thoroughly, you can even use a sponge to expedite the process.
4. Cut the washed radish in medium sizes of any shape.
5. Blanch the radish by boiling in water for two to three minutes. This is done to preserve color and flavor.
6. Make an ice bath with ice blocks and then put the boiled radish into the bath.
7. Bring out radish on a sieve and then refrigerate for 6-7 hours. After refrigerating for said hours, you can now re-refrigerate for 1-2 months.

Dry them out:

This is a process of dehydration. Dehydration allows you to make use of the whole radish plant without wasting a thing. But in this article, only preservation of the roots will be catered for.

3. The general rule of thumb in preserving radishes, would be to always remove stems and leaves before carrying out any other process.
4. Next, wash the radish thoroughly using a brush. Peel radish neatly and then wash again.
5. Cut radish into tiny slices and then place them on a dehydrator tray. Leaves small spaces between each radish slice on the tray. Remember, the tinier the slice, the crispier.
6. You can also decide to spice it up, if you so please by sprinkling salt and pepper atop the surface.
7. Place the dehydrator tray in the dehydrator and dehydrate at 125F for 2-4 hours.
8. After said time, remove from the dehydrator and allow it to cool. Store in an airtight Mason or Kerr jar.

4. Radish pickle: This is another awesome way of preserving your radish with the process explained above. Make sure to refrigerate after pickling the radish for longer shelf life.

Note: it is totally okay for radish to lose texture, color and flavor the longer it is being kept.

What do you eat pickled radishes with?

This is one of the reasons I love radish pickles. I get to eat it with almost anything. There are no dull moments with pickled radish. In salads? Food? No dull moments. It’s almost like it can be eaten with anything.

My favorite combination with pickled radish is sandwich/burgers. It can also be eaten with grilled chicken, salads, pad Thai, tacos and toast. Pickled radish can also be eaten alone straight out the jar. It is crunchy and spicy and has an interesting taste. It may smell, but trust me, radish pickles are worth condoning the smell.

Instead of relying on my list, you can also try it out with other food. You never know what you might find.

Why do pickled radishes stink?

Everything in life has a downside and radish pickles aren’t left out. The smell can prevent one eating it, hence, making the person miss out on the goodness that is radish pickle.

When I first noticed the almost pungent smell, I refused to believe that it came from my beautiful jar of radish pickles. I closed the jar, refrigerated it, and slept with my hopes up. I slept that night, hoping that by the time I woke up, the smell must have gone away. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. I was distraught and almost didn’t eat it, but then, I remembered what radish has done for me, both health and size wise. And I decided at that moment to suck up all my negative emotions. I ate it that day, and since then, I’ve not stopped.

Maybe you have a similar story, just that it totally discouraged you from trying again in your case. Well, it shouldn’t.

Sulfur compounds are responsible for the smell that comes from your jar of pickled radish. They are not poisonous. They are formed as a result of the fermentation that takes place in the jar. Don’t give up on radish pickles. It might stink, but it is worth every bite.

Do pickled radishes need to be refrigerated?

Refrigeration is one of the most popular methods of preservation. Refrigeration has helped us in storing both perishable and non-perishable items. Hence, the answer to the question, “does pickled radishes need to be refrigerated?” is yes. Refrigeration preserves your pickled radish for up to 2 weeks.

Refrigeration is especially important for storing radish pickles because it preserves the taste and texture better than any other refrigeration type. This is made possible because refrigeration can help slow down biochemical processes.

Without refrigerating, the pickled radish will only last for two to three days tops. Asides the short time, the smell from the bottle will become more pungent. So, for safekeeping, refrigerate your pickled radish and prevent waste and spoilage.

Conclusion

Pickling your radish serves two purposes. Firstly to preserve and secondly to serve as toppings to some food. Radish pickles are sumptuous and good for your health, as you must have seen in the former part of this article. The smell might faze you but do not run away. To run away is to miss out on the delicious goodness that is radish pickles.

Today, I urge you to see radish as garden weed no longer or throw away excess radish. Radish on its own might have a sour taste, but pickling it makes all better and equally healthy. Use the preservation methods listed above to avoid waste. 

Gift a jar of pickled radish to your family members, best friend and co-worker. Add it to that gift basket you plan on gifting to someone. You can even include a note containing the benefits of radish pickles. Remember, if you can grow it, you can cook it and you can eat it then you can definitely preserve it.