FOR fans of Japanese food – indeed, anyone who's eaten it more than once – one might have noticed those crunchy, sweet and salty slices of bright yellow pickled daikon radish that come on the side of many meals.Is this true?Yes, takuan or takuan-zuke is named after the Zen monk Takuan Soho and this is because he is credited with inventing this way of preserving daikon radish.
That said, the most commonly accepted origin for the name is that it is indeed named after the Zen monk. Commonly served as a side dish to accompany rice or in sushi, takuan is made by sun-drying daikon and then salting it and placing it with a form of rice bran containing a bacteria called bacillus subtilis.
It is then left to ferment with the rice bran – a medium known in Japanese as “nukadoko – for a period that can be as short as a few weeks to as long as a few months. Also, takuan is used in Korean cuisine; it is known as"danmuji" and is used as an accompaniment to certain noodle dishes and a form of rice rolls called"gimbap."