Takuan

Takuan (沢庵^?), also known as takuwan or takuan-zuke, is a popular traditional Japanese preserved vegetable.

It is made from daikon radish. In addition to being served alongside other types of tsukemono in traditional Japanese cuisine, takuan is also enjoyed at the end of meals as it is thought to aid digestion. In Korean it is known as danmuji (단무지) and is typically added to gimbap or served as a side dish in Korean Chinese cuisine.

Takuan is made by first hanging a daikon radish in the sun for a few weeks until it becomes flexible. Next, the daikon is placed in a pickling crock and covered with a mix of salt, rice bran, optionally sugar, daikon greens, kombu, and perhaps chilli pepper and/or dried persimmon peels. A weight is then placed on top of the crock, and the daikon is allowed to pickle for several months. The finished takuan is usually yellow in color, although most mass-produced takuan rely on food coloring for this effect.

Takuan Sōhō is credited with concocting this yellow pickle, which now bears his name.^[1]


Tsukemono (漬物^?, literally "pickled things") are Japanese preserved vegetables.^[1] 
Takuan Sōhō (沢庵 宗彭^?, December 24, 1573 – January 27, 1645) was a major figure in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism.