Guam Mama Cooks: Daigo Doesn’t Have to Be Yellow | Guam Mama Cooks Lifestyle

Imagine my surprise last holiday season when I saw yellow radishes labeled as carcinogenic in Asian markets. It held me back because it’s one thing to be a possibility and another to see warnings on food packages. Can you get your head around the yellow dye? Probably due to sodium glutamate added to the packaging solution, or horse mackerel.

Our individual health is the sum of many things, including how our food is grown and prepared. I strive to grow the produce used in Guåhån recipes to make island food tastier and more nutritious.

I was hesitant to buy fresh radishes to make daigo. On the other hand, if you grow a small round radish in the cold season, it should be effective against Daigo because radish is a radish.” And it worked. Fresh radish imparts an earthy and natural umami (natural MSG) flavor. When pickled, the color of the radish will fade, but the pickled juice will turn bright red.

I planted a variety of small round and oblong radish seeds, such as Cherry Bell and French Breakfast. These seeds are available at Home Depot. Depending on the temperature, it takes about 30 days, give up or a week to harvest.

Talking to my father, I remember planting radishes in Guang with my grandmother a long time ago. I grew radishes in one of the blue plastic kiddie pools with Kellogg’s Natural Raised Bed and Potting Mix Organic Plus, black cow dung, perlite and peat moss all from Home Depot.

Of course, if you have lush island soil in your garden, composted chicken manure and shredded coconut fiber, all is probably well. You can save the leaves by cooking them with turmeric and coconut milk. I usually use frozen spinach, but my next batch of Gorai Hogon will be a mixture of roughly equal amounts of spinach and radish leaves.

Farmtotableguam.org has several articles on how to start a garden in Guåhån. My YouTube Guam Mama Cooks channel has a playlist titled “Growing Veggies for Guam Food”. This is a collection of short on-the-fly videos of Guåhån vegetable experiments. It shows the growth of red radish and radish. The link to this playlist is below.

Today, I would like to introduce an original recipe for daikon radish for those who want to use the old-fashioned “yellow” radish. If you eat raw daikon radish, use rice vinegar instead of white vinegar to bring out the flavor of the finished product. The link to the video on how to make “Daigo” is below.

Daigo

• 1 pack of whole yellow radish
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup raw radish vinegar or 1 cup seasoned rice vinegar
• fresh radish water 1 3/4 cups or ½ cup water and radish juice from package
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper, optional

Tools: Cutting board, kitchen knife, medium-sized glass bowl, rubber spatula.

Open the bag of radishes and pour the liquid into a bowl. set aside.

Cut the whole radish into thin slices or half moons.

Put the daikon radish in a bowl. Add white distilled vinegar, 1 3/4 cups water, sugar, salt, and pepper. Mix well.

If you want the daigo to be a little sweeter, add sugar. Add more vinegar if you want it more sour.

If you are making daigo with fresh radishes, remember to start with 1/2 cup water, as seasoned rice vinegar is not as strong as regular vinegar. Add more water and seasonings to taste.

watch video

How to make daigo is youtube.com/watch?v=v52q5r-7frY&t=177s.

youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRNRfxiqxcIgJu1NqilibXKe5dAt7Pa8E Growing vegetables for Guam cuisine.

Paula Lujan Quinene, author of A Taste of Guam, Remember Guam, Conquered, and Stormed, enjoys CHamoru cuisine in her fasting lifestyle. You can contact her at pquinene@gmail.com. You can also find her recipes at: PaulaQ.com Connect with her as “Guam Mama Cooks” on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.