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In the early 1980s, one time the “no reaction”-having spice king Lao kids in the apartment complex across the street from mine handed me a bag of crunched-up, uncooked ramen with the spicy soup powder sprinkled on to eat like chips. These kids, mainly my friends’ older brothers, probably thought they were gonna have a laugh seeing me cry, but that day, the joke was on them. They opened my eyes to a whole new world of flavor and turned me into a fervid novelty-seeker. (Another time when I was a kid, my dad made me a peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich. To this day I still don’t know whether or not he was trying to punk me, but I remember really liking the smooth texture and tangy/nutty flavor combination.)
If you’re ever reluctant to goof around and mix things up in the kitchen, just remember that there was once a time when a marketing team had to convince people that combining chocolate and peanut butter is a good idea. Corn flakes were invented completely by accident, when the Kellogg brothers had to figure out how to salvage a pot of porridge that had overcooked in the Battle Creek Sanitarium kitchen. Necessity is the mother of invention.
The French taught us that butter is lovely on a radish, and the Japanese have enjoyed the nuance of a cooked radish for ages — so why not combine these concepts? This “waste not, want not” recipe isn’t just a great way to work through a glut of radishes, but the salty, fatty and umami sauce tempers the bitterness of the radish greens beautifully. Who’d have thought? Serves 4
Ingredients
1 bunch radishes (any kind) and their greens
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons white miso
2 tablespoons broth or water
1 tablespoon honey, agave or rice syrup
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Trim the leaves off the radishes, and wash them well in cold water to remove any dirt or grit. Scrub the radishes and cut them in half.
- Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and add the radishes, stirring to coat in the butter. Reduce the heat to medium, add the miso and the broth or water, stirring until the miso is dissolved. Add the honey and stir to coat the radishes in the butter-miso sauce. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the radishes are beginning to become tender-crisp, about 8-10 minutes. If the sauce is getting too thick to coat the radishes, add another spoonful of water.
- Increase the heat to medium-high, add the greens, and stir-fry until they’re wilted and bright green, about 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle on the sesame seeds and serve.
