Jicama subsitute: Daikon radish! (also subs. for sharp radish!)

[Diana Cda]

I waited to see if daikon radish (also known as "lo bok", I believe) is truly a jicama substitute and re-confirmed yesterday that it is indeed!

I first bought daikon about 2 months ago and after preparing something with it found it to have something of the texture and feel of jicama. Though it has a hint of the somewhat acrid flavour of regular radishes it lacks the heat and sharpness. Personally, I do not like radishes for that very reason. But I have always wanted to find a toned-down variety of such because nothing spells summer as radishes in salads; yet despite the nice flavour, I could never get past its distinctive bite on my tongue <g>. Daikon works wonderfully as a substitute here, too. (Nothing invokes summer for us people in countries that have snow as radish and watermelon, eh??!!!)

And with regards to the jicama in Alissa's potato salad, since jicama is so very difficult to get since Chinatown in my city is not placed conveniently for me bus-wise, it was a real boon to find that daikon works just as well. This chinese radish is now sold in most grocery stores in my city.

For recipes that also need the sweetness of jicama, I imagine that adding a bit of agave nectar or date paste along with the daikon will do the trick.

Lastly, the very mild hint of radish is effectively masked by the garlic and spices and herbs so I imagine most recipes that call for jicama will probably also fare as well despite the fact that daikon is more savoury and less sweet.

Anyway, hope this helps. I'm sure that I'm not the only one that finds it diffcult to get jicama.

Cheers. :)

[NoGMO!]

would daikon work for the jicama french fry recipe??

I have always wanted to try this recipe out, but never have because I have never seen jicama that isn't conventionally grown.

[Diana Cda]

I think I've interpreted correctly re what you say about jicama, that you've never found organic jicama? Which suggests that you have found organic daikon (?). If I have that right, then lucky you!!! I don't have access to an abundant supply of organic produce. Our health food stores are well enough, but they are still rather limited in what they supply. I don't believe I've ever seen organic daikon <g>.

Re the jicama fries, you know, I don't see why not. I mean, sure, other recipes have so many other flavours masking the very slight radish taste in it, but the jicama fries in the recipe are salted with paprika or other anyway. That might be enough to even out the daikon flavour. I can only speculate at this point and suspect it may be a matter of personal preference on whether or not it would be good substitute in this instance.

When I start a new job and have an income coming in again, I'll go out and buy both and then will experiment with the Jicama Un-fries recipe and report back.

Or, if anyone can do that before I do, perhaps someone can compare in the meantime (?). I find that daikon is a more-than-fair substitute but that might not be other people's perception. I'd be interested in finding out if anyone else feels the same way.

Cheers. :)

[NoGMO!]

I think I've interpreted correctly re what you say about jicama, that you've never found organic jicama? Which suggests that you have found organic daikon (?).

yes! exactly. so, I'll give it a shot here in a few days and let you know how they turn out.

[Diana Cda]

Hey, that's great. Be interesting to see if daikon does the job for this! :)