Quick-pickled daikon
Frankie Gaw writes about the jar of pickled vegetables always in his family's fridge — the thing you open when the meal needs brightness and no one planned for it. This version is built fast: salt draws out the water, a sharp brine goes in, and within two hours you have something that cuts through the richness of anything it sits next to. The daikon should stay crunchy. If it goes soft, you skipped the squeeze.
Ingredients · serves 2 for the week
Method
Cut and draw out moisture
Peel daikon and carrot. Cut into matchsticks — roughly 5cm long, 3–4mm thick. Toss with 1½ tsp salt, leave 20 minutes. The salt draws water out through osmosis, concentrating flavour and ensuring the brine isn't diluted. Squeeze firmly in handfuls — get as much water out as possible.
Make the brine
Whisk together rice vinegar, sugar, and remaining ½ tsp salt until dissolved. Taste: it should be bracingly sour with a clean sweetness. Slice ginger into thin coins, add with the dried chili.
Combine and chill
Toss squeezed veg with brine and sesame seeds. Pack tightly into a jar so everything is submerged. Refrigerate at least 2 hours — the acid continues working as it sits, mellowing from sharp to bright.