Best Friends and Pickles

Your sweet, tart and crunchy summer treat comes in the form of this Easy Daikon Radish Pickle Recipe!  These cubed, pickled delights are great to eat on it’s own or as a side dish.  

The New Filipino Kitchen: Stories and Recipes from around the Globe had a book launch event in Toronto.  Since I’m trying to travel and visit friends during my summer off from culinary school, I jumped at the chance to attend the event and take part in the panel discussion.  Visiting  Canada also gave me a chance to spend time with my best friends Rej and Rob. Rej and I grew up in the Philippines and attended the same school. We’ve been friends for more than 25 years.

Always the food enthusiast, Rej’s refrigerator in the Philippines would be full of cakes, olives, cherries, and even blue cheese.  Products that were not common (except for cakes) in our grocery stores. I remember my first taste of blue cheese was at Rej’s.  I took a large bite thinking it will taste like mild processed cheese.  The intense flavor made my eyes tear up!

During my recent visit to her home in Canada, Rej was obviously in her element in the kitchen.   From cooking her family’s heritage dish – Chicken Galentina, Asian style Pork Bone Soup, and even preparing a Dim Sum breakfast.  My friend can Martha Stewart food like no other.  

I watch as my friend chops and tosses fresh watercress in the steamer over the Dim Sum. Then, she sets the table with mini sized bamboo cutting boards as our plate chargers, soy sauce in individual dipping bowls and thin metal chopsticks (not the crappy wooden ones).  Once our dumplings were done, the steamer was placed on the table with a satisfying “thunk” – a sound that said my belly will be full of good food soon.

The thunks of a large container of toasted garlic and a bowl of home made pickles follow.  I munch on the pickles right away.  The sweet and tart burst of flavor along with the crunchy texture of the Daikon radish has me wide-eyed pleased.  I let her know how yummy the pickles are.  Rej tells me she always has home made sweet pickled Daikon radish in her fridge. She generously gives me the recipe to share with you all.

I am back in the US now, hundreds of miles away from Rej.  Our relationship is not always sweet and pleasant. We sometimes have our eyebrow-raising, nose-flaring arguments. Like Rej’s sweet and tart pickles, we’ve had our good and bad moments. 

No one can replace the relationship between best friends we grow up with.  From sharing heartaches, celebrations, hours long conversations about anything under the sun, and even driving an overheated car through dark zig-zaggy roads trying to leave a mountain range full of marauders. Best friends will always either be in a pickle with you or save you from one! 

Tips for Easy Daikon Radish Pickle Recipe

• store pickled radish in a container with a fitted lid for storing
• brine pickles for at least 4 hours
• pickles will keep for at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator
• serve as a side dish with meals or eat by itself as a snack

Your best friends will get you through the tough times! Read Lemons – a short story about the miserable formula of bullying here.

Want more pickles? Here’s a beautiful Pickled Cherries Recipe by Foxy Folksy.

Photo Credit: Cubed Pickled Daikon in glass bowl by Rej Burns.