Name: Pickled Daikon
Prep time: 5 min
Yield: 1 c.
Ingredients: 1/3 c. water; 1/3 c. rice wine vinegar; 1/4 c. granulated sugar; 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt; 1 tsp. ground turmeric; 1 small daikon radish, peeled and thinly sliced (about 8 oz.); 1 clove garlic, grated (optional)

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- You know what they say? Double the turmeric, double the fun. Welcome to "The Spice Show," y'all. Today's guest of honor, turmeric. We're gonna answer some of your FAQ's and we're gonna be showing you how to cook with turmeric. (upbeat music) You've probably seen it in the store, in the spice aisle, it's this gorgeously yellow powder ground to a fine dust and it colors everything to your heart's content, but it never seems to taste or smell like much. If that's the case, you probably bought some turmeric that has been dried and ground far too long ago and it has lost its potency both in terms of bright color and in terms of flavor. (upbeat music) In its original form turmeric is a rhizome. And this is what they look like. Turmeric like its cousin, ginger, looks like a root, but it's actually a rhizome. It's the part of a plant that sends out roots and stalks, kind of like growth hub. Do you like turmeric? What do you think, bud? Is no, is yes? That's a no. (upbeat music) Native to south and southeast Asia, turmeric is a spice that is used the world over and traditional Indian medicine. Health wise it's believed that turmeric has a lot of anti-inflammatories and antioxidants like curcumin that's really good for you, but there's no scientific studies really backing that up. What I do know is that turmeric is an exciting spice to have in your cupboard and or in your fridge if you can find it fresh. You can use it in a lot of recipes and we're gonna show you how today. (upbeat music) That will truly depend on how fresh your stock is. The fresher your ground turmeric, the more pungent and more colorful it will be. And of course, if you can get your hands on the fresh stuff that will be the most potent it will ever be. To me, turmeric can taste a little bit earthy, aka, like dirt. It's got a bit of a warm mustardy taste, a little bit bitter on the after finish. And if you eat it straight, which I do not recommend, you will certainly get that kick after. (upbeat music) It's a spice, but is it spicy? I would say no. On a scale of one to five, I would say this is like a 0.1. If you nibble on the fresh stuff your teeth will be discolored, because turmeric has very potent coloring agents in it. But if you're a brave soul and you take a chunk out of the fresh stuff, it kind of tastes like that root end of the carrot where it meets the greens, a little bit bitter, a little bit fresh, a little bit crisp, and a little bit juicy actually. It also has a slightly celery root taste to it too. In terms of smell it reminds me of a cross between a black pepper and a clove, slightly androgynous, a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy. (upbeat music) Now, before we start cooking with turmeric, whether dried or fresh, I think it is my absolute responsibility to give you this disclaimer and warning. Turmeric will stain absolutely everything and anything it comes into contact with, that includes your hands, your cooking tools, your pots, your towels, your clothes, your stove, everything. While you can wash it off in batches it'll gradually fade with sunlight as well, it's gonna stain in your instruments. So just be aware of that and don't use any of your super pretty pots while cooking turmeric unless you want it to be dyed a very nice shade of yellow. Having said that, this property of turmeric makes it perfect for any dishes that you want to imbue with a yellow golden hue, which is why our first recipe is pickled daikon. (upbeat music) You see this kind of pickles a lot in Korean cuisine served alongside your main dishes and your sides. And this, this is one of my absolute favorite pickles. For your daikon pickles you'll need seven ingredients, daikon being one of them of course. You'll also need water, rice, vinegar, granulated sugar, kosher salt, a little bit of turmeric, either dried or fresh, as well as a clove of garlic. You're gonna slice your daikon about a quarter of an inch or eighth of an inch thick, place them packed into a jar, and then in a small pot over medium heat you're gonna heat up your rice wine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and turmeric. Depending on how strong you want your turmeric flavor to be, you can go fresh for dried. Fresh will give you a more bright, pungent flavor, and dried will be a little bit tamer. For me the main purpose of turmeric in these pickles is for the color so I'm gonna go with dried. Bring it up to a boil, let all of that sugar melt away, and then grate your garlic over your daikon in the jar. Pour over your hot solution, and just let it melt into that daikon. Make sure all of your pieces of daikon are being covered in that solution, lid it up a little bit, give it a shake over the sink, in case there's any leaks, and then let us sit in your fridge at least two days before consuming. It probably will keep for two weeks, but I've never had them last that long. The longer you them sit like yellower they'll get, and the more flavorful there'll be. Still delicious though. I'm gonna need some teeth whitening after this episode. Next up drinks. (upbeat music) Because turmeric is a little bit bitter and a little bit earthy and a little bit pungent, it pairs really well with sugar and any other spice or herbs that taste a little bit on the borderline of sweet and spicy. That includes black pepper. That includes cardamon. That includes ginger. All of the above. One really simple way to enjoy turmeric is to take a little bit of fresh grated turmeric, a little bit of fresh grated ginger, boil it in a couple of cups of water, add some honey to it, squeeze a little bit of lemon in there, and there you have it, turmeric tea. If you don't mind a little fiber in your drink, feel free to drink a straight with a little touch of lemon. Perfect. If you like a smooth tea, go ahead and strain out those fibers. This is a super simple drink to have in the morning, in the afternoon, at night, no caffeine, just pure flavor and color. Tastes like a slightly spicy warm lemonade. This tea even comes with its own magic trick. (upbeat music) Nifty, huh? If you're looking for something creamier and a little bit more rich and substantial, look no further than turmeric golden milk. (upbeat music) For the golden milk, you're gonna take some cardamom pods, you're gonna take some black pepper, you're gonna crush both of those open. For a little bit of nuttiness you can go ahead and toast your spices in that dry pot first to release their flavors a little bit. Add a little bit of milk of your choice, and then go in with your fresh ginger and your fresh turmeric. If you don't have fresh turmeric on hand, the substitution is about one inch of fresh turmeric to one teaspoon ground turmeric. Let everything come up to a little simmer and let it boil away until that milk takes on that golden hue from the turmeric, take it off the heat, strain it or don't, and then stir in a little bit of honey or sweetener of your choice. (upbeat music) Ooh, yeah. The creaminess of the milk is offset by that slightly spicy, slightly earthy, pungent flavor profile. And man, those spices make get delicious. Naturally you have your tea, you have your milk, and then you have your cake. (upbeat music) Sfouf is a Lebanese semolina cake that's usually flavored and colored with turmeric, and then you add some tahini and almonds in there for a nutty, nutty, delicious bite. It's usually flavored with anise seed, but I'm gonna substitute some fennel seeds because that's what I have on hand. And I'm gonna substitute the tahini with a little bit of peanut butter. I know, I know, you're thinking, "Turmeric in a cake, really?" Yes, really. And it's gonna be delicious and beautiful. Oh, and did I mention this version is vegan. To make sfouf, you take a little bit of semolina flour, combine it with all purpose flour, a little bit of granulated sugar, baking powder, along with some salt. Add in your turmeric. Give those dries a whisk until they're nicely combined. Then you're gonna stream in a little bit of olive oil, oat milk, and a little bit of peanut butter. Sprinkle on your crushed fennel seeds, mix it well, and then we're gonna take a mini cupcake tin. We're gonna sprinkle the bottoms with a little bit of sesame seeds. We're gonna plop in a little bit of batter into each cup, and then we're gonna top with more sesame seeds. We're gonna slide that whole thing into a 350 degree oven, and then we're gonna let them bake until the edges get a little nicely solidly golden. (upbeat music) These semolina cakes can be very crumbly so be very careful and gentle when you're pulling them out of your pan. I recommend letting them cool for about five to 10 minutes, flipping them onto a sheet tray, and then kind of smacking it with your hand until they kind of pop out. Some of them might be stuck. Don't worry if they crumble, it's still delicious. Either way you get a gorgeous, sleek, golden cake with nutty sesame seeds and a little bit of peanut butter inside. And then that texture of the semolina is just the most enjoyable little crunch you'll ever get from a cake. (upbeat music) I also really enjoy using turmeric in my homemade granola. Whatever granola recipe you like to use go for it, just add a little bit of turmeric for that nice color. For my granola I really like to go in with some oats, a little bit of shredded sweetened coconut, a little bit of seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, whatever healthy thing you wanna throw in there, and then I really like putting in a little bit of androgynous spices. So turmeric, black pepper, ground cardamom, all game. Add little bit of salt, a little bit of oil, and a little bit of honey, mix it all together, spread it on a sheet tray, 325, let it go for about 25 minutes, gently flipping halfway through so that no edges are burning, and then when it's evenly golden all around the pan, take it out. And here's a tip of getting nice little clusters of granola, don't fumble with it right away. Let that tray cool completely before you kind of start chipping away at it and breaking off in chunks. Letting that honey solidify completely after it caramelizes in the oven is the way to get those nice big clumps of crunchiness. For some double turmeric action go ahead and drizzle your golden milk right over that granola. All right, are we ready to hit the savories yet? 'Cause I am. Fun fact, did you know that turmeric is present in a lot of spice mixes? Primarily that of curry powder. Turmeric is what gives curry powder it's signature yellow hue. It's also used very commonly in a lot of different Indian dishes. So if you go to your Indian store you'll see on the shelves so many different pre-packaged meal kits that have turmeric in them as a key agent of flavor and color. One of my favorite ways to use curry powder is fish ball curry. (upbeat music) If you've never had fish ball before it is a true delight. I highly recommend that you seek it out at your Asian markets. You can usually find it in the refrigerated or frozen aisle and you can get so many different shapes. Look at that, so fun. Try it, try it, try it. For your fish ball curry, in a large pot drop in some oil, go in with your onions and your garlic, and just let them toast until they're a little bit golden. Add in your kosher salt, your curry powder, and then go in with either ground turmeric or fresh turmeric sliced. Also add in a little bit of freshly cracked black pepper and two birds eye chili if you can handle the heat. Toss in some fragrant lime leaves, and let those get stirred around in the pot so that all their flavors release into that oil. As soon as that pot smells divine, hit it with some rich coconut milk, along with some chicken broth or water. Add a touch of soy sauce, a little splash of fish sauce, going with a tablespoon of sugar to offset all the spices. Then plop in some halved baby potatoes and your fish balls. Give it a stir and just let that cook until that sauce looks nice and slightly thickened. When your curry is done your potatoes should be knife tender and super creamy on the inside. This curry goes great served over wheat noodles, or if you have leftover rice. Let's make some turmeric fried rice, shall we? (upbeat music) For the fried rice I'm gonna place a skillet over medium heat, drizzle in some oil, go in with my onions, garlic, you know the drill. Wait until they're nice and golden, stir them around so that they don't burn. And then we're gonna hit it with a little bit of mince ginger, a little bit of dried ground turmeric, a little bit of smoked paprika for, you know, flavor punch. Go in with a little bit of freshly ground black pepper. And then we're gonna throw in our veggies, because, guys, you gotta eat your veggies. Mom's right. So I'm putting in some red bell peppers along with some broccoli, chopped, and then we're gonna season this whole thing with a little bit of soy sauce, a little bit of fish sauce, and then we're gonna plop in our rice. I use leftover rice, about two cups. One even layer, give it some room to be stirred, to be cooked to be nice and crispy. And then once that rice is poppin', move it off to one side of the skillet, crack in two eggs. We're gonna quickly scramble it. We're gonna fold it into the rest of the rice. And viola, you have some turmeric fried rice with eggs. I think as far as fried rice goes, they don't come prettier than this, red, green, rich, bright yellow. And, of course, if you want more flavor, we're gonna dump some fish ball curry on top of this. You know what they say? Double the turmeric, double the fun. The potatoes are nice and tender, super creamy, super covered in this rich curry sauce, lots of coconut milk happening here, and lots of spices happening here. The fish balls are tender and still bouncy, filled with delicious umami flavor. And then you find a little sliver of slice turmeric, and man is it delicious after being stewed. It's still got that nice turmeric-y punch. It's a little bit crunchy. - [Roommate] June, these look beautiful. - Do you want some food? - Thank you. I love eating hot fried rice and a hot curry on an 85 degree day here in New York. Don't you, June? - Just depends on how good it is, man. - We'll see. It's good. (June laughs) Man, this is awesome. - Mine. - Nope, nope. - Mine. Y'all, I hope you enjoyed going on this turmeric-y journey with me. I hope you learned something about this wonderfully yellow spice and I hope that you stock this spice up in your pantry and use it more. I think it's a beautiful spice, visually beautiful, tastefully beautiful. Yes, it can be a little bit bitter if you use too much of it, but you know, aren't we all at the end of the day, a little bit bitter? If you have any favorite recipes involving turmeric or you got tricks and tips about this spice, drop a comment down below and let me know. I wanna learn from you too. Until next time, guys, take care, stay hydrated, and keep on eating good things. (upbeat music)

Not a root, not quite a stalk: Turmeric is a bright yellow rhizome that can be used in baked goods, savory mains, and beverages.

Pickled Daikon

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