Icicle radishes

[Bob W]

Last night I finally watched the Iron Chef America Super Chef Battle from early January, so I just read the long thread on the episode on the food media board.

I seem to be one of the lucky people who has actually eaten icicle radishes. At a recent dinner at the French Hound Bistro in Middleburg VA, I had an appetizer of "breakfast" radishes with sea salt. They were very sweet, fairly long white radishes. Very tasty. I didn't really understand why they were called "breakfast" radishes, although I suspect they are eaten for breakfast in France, since they are sweet. They were definitely icicle shaped, and they certainly looked just like the icicle radishes Batali burned on the show.

[soypower]

Does anyone know if these icicle radishes are the same radishes used in yul moo (young radish) kimchi?

[hannaone]

Icicle radishes are not the same as the young summer radish. The icicle is a mature radish while the young summer radish is just that, an immature white summer radish that is harvested early.
You could probably substitute the icicle for the yeolmu with no problem, but the flavor would be a bit different.
H-Mart in Federal way, Boo Han and Pal-do in Edmonds, and the new H-Mart on the north side all carry the yeolmu when it's in season.

http://www.maangchi.com/wp-content/up...

[decolady]

As BeefeaterRocks said, breakfast radishes are red and white - sometimes with some pink thrown in. I grew up eating icicle radishes that my grandfather grew. But we never had them cooked. I have occasionally grown them, but never cooked them either. After seeing that ICA episode, I decided to try cooking them the next time I plant them.

Why don't you ask at the French Hound why they call the dish Breakfast Radishes?

[Bob W]

I'm going to do that!

[luckyfatima]

The ones in the linked website pic look just like daikon radishes to me. Are they different or is it the same thing with a different name?

[Eldon Kreider]

There is a huge size difference between icicle and daikon radishes. An icicle radish that is six inches long is large while that size would be a baby for daikon. The flavor, storage ability and texture are different as well.

[BeefeaterRocks]

French Breakfast radishes are red and White Icicle radishes are, surprise, white. I have grown both for many years and see them often in the super markets in the spring and summer.
http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/veg...

[Bob W]

Well, the ones I got at the French Hound were definitely white and icicle shaped, so I don't know why they just didn't call them icicle radishes.

Whatever they were, I really liked them.

[Will Owen]

It's been a long time since I've seen these in any supermarkets, but I was delighted to find them regularly in our area farmer's markets. I like radishes period, but these were my favorites when I was growing up, and that was one item I always insisted had to go into the family's garden every year. Lovely vegetables, sweet and never pithy.