Daikon Steaks Are The Vegan Alternative To Jazz Up Summer Barbecues

By now, you've probably exhausted your go-to list of vegetable accompaniments for summer grilling over the years. Healthy sides like grilled corn, veggie kabobs, and potato salad are undeniable classics, but too much of a good thing can lead to barbecue burnout. Enter the daikon — one of East Asia's most iconic radishes. And even though it traditionally has the reputation of being a winter radish, it's both versatile enough to use in dishes for any season and available in grocery stores year round. This makes it the perfect ingredient to jazz up your next summer barbecue menu.

As one TikTok video demonstrates, one way to make daikon into a vegan crowd-pleaser is with teriyaki-style daikon steaks. These are very easy to make, and can be done on your stove with just a frying pan. Daikon is naturally juicy, but each steak needs to be scored on both sides in a criss-cross pattern before cooking in order for the raw radish flavors to mellow and the delicious sauce flavors to penetrate the surface of the root. After that add oil to the pan, sear on both sides until golden brown, and add in a simple teriyaki-style mixture of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar (optional) to coat the daikon. To make the final dish more tender, you can also microwave the daikon steaks for five to six minutes before searing.

As mentioned earlier, daikon radish is very versatile to cook with and has some great health benefits, so why wouldn't you want to cook more great dishes with it? Raw daikon provides a nice crunch that makes it a solid ingredient for salads. For an easy daikon salad, finely cut the radish into julienne strips and mix it with shredded green cabbage or sprouts. To make sure this dish stays vegan, select (or make) a dairy-free sesame dressing. Finally, top it off with shredded nori seaweed and you've got an amazing side salad for your summer barbecue.

If you've got meat on the grill (or even some of those aforementioned daikon steaks), one of the best accompaniments to cut through the fat is a zingy, refreshing pickle. Daikon is a great vehicle for simple pickling methods, from sweet and acidic to hot and spicy like kimchi. A pickled daikon recipe that works well in the summer combines a bit of sweet with a pinch of spice. To make it, simply peel the daikon and cut into thin half-moon-shaped slices and place in a container with a pickling solution of rice vinegar, sake, salt, sugar, and dried red chili pepper. This recipe is also completely vegan and is ready to eat after only a few hours of sitting in the fridge! Don't be afraid to make a big batch of these for your barbecue, because you'll likely be reaching for them again and again.