Chinese Radish and Carrot Stew - 燉雙色蘿蔔

Dining out not only satisfied my cravings, once a while it serves as an inspiration - an inspiration for Mister's bento side dish. 

There's a local bento joint that we both love and probably to-go their food every other week. Usually the bento comes with all the common Asian side dishes such as scrambled eggs, stir-fry veggies, tofu stew, etc. So when I saw radish (daikon) and carrot stew showed up in my bento box, it caught my attention. 

"Should be easy to replicate," I thought. And there it is, a revamped version of bento side dish. Not going to brag about it, but the homemade version was less salty and much more flavorful. 

I guess I'm still bragging about it.

Chinese radish and carrot stew - 

Ingredients?

• 1 Chinese radish/daikon
• 2 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups unsalted chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce paste
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some white pepper powder
• Some corn starch/water mixture
• Some chopped cilantro (optional)

How?

Peel and cut the daikon and carrots into small cubes. Peel and dice the onion. Peel and grate or finely chop the ginger.

Use a pot or a big pan with some depth, drizzle enough olive oil to evenly coat the bottom. Turn to medium high heat. Add in diced onion and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Give it a quick stir and cook till the edge of the onion turns translucent.

Add in diced daikon and carrot. Cook for about one minute. 

Pour in the chicken stock till about the same height or a little bit lower compared to the ingredients. Also add in grated ginger, soy sauce, soy sauce paste, and mirin. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to keep it at a slight boil. Cook till the liquid has been reduced by about half and the radish becomes fork-tender. 

Prepare some corn starch and water mixture on the side. Evenly pour into the stock mixture while stirring at the same time to prevent lumps.

Sprinkle some white pepper powder before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired. 

Both the radish and carrot already fully soaked up the flavorful chicken stock. And the corn starch makes the remaining juice gooey and comforting. Thanks to that bento joint, I've got one more bento side dish recipe to feed Mister at home.


Other radish/daikon recipes:

• Stewed daikon using chicken stock and grated ginger
• A little gift from Kyoto, Japan - Senmaizuke (千枚漬) with sushi grade tuna and shiso