DAIKON BONITO FLAKES
MARINATED DAIKON SERVED AS FISH
AS KATSUOBUSHI (JAPANESE BONITO FISH FLAKES)
OR BOQUERONES (SPANISH STYLE ANCHOVIES)
Daikon can be a real red herring when looking for seafood stand-ins.
For example take Bonito flakes. They’re shaved, dried fish that can be used to make dashi and are often seen scattered on top of Japanese meals where they 'dance' by fluttering in the steam leaving the dish. To recreate this, grated daikon is prepared to have a similar hit of intense, salty flavour, then dried for a creative take on the original flakes. Don't be scared of making a double batch, you'll want to scatter these delicious flakes on EVERYTHING! This recipe is the perfect way to add a plant based anchovy flavour element to something like a caesar salad or whipped into an anchovy-like dairy-free butter, or right where they belong scattered on Japanese meals like fried tofu or okonomiyaki.
Want a classic version of actual anchovies?
The Boquerones (Spanish style marinated anchovies pictured below) preparation style applied to daikon gives all the briny, oceanic and garlicky flavours after being sat in the marinade. It doesn’t take much else to serve these in place of fresh anchovies, but in the true spirit of The Vegan Baker cookbook that these recipes are extracted from, you can add edible silver leaf flakes to the outside to really check off every part of the fishy experience all using an east-asian root veg instead.
The flavour is truly the easy part of making these Vegan Anchovies/Boquerones - the plant based magic happens with styling touches like serving in something like an anchovy tin or adding edible silver-leaf flakes to the outside to really give the effect!
A plant based caesar salad photographed for The Vegan Butcher by Emily Weaving, showing a great place to use the dried vegan katsuobushi flavour version in for an umami boost.
1 daikon, 2 ways. Here you can see both versions of what a daikon can become using a very similar marinade method, one is just left in whole whereas the other is shaved and dried. Both are delicious and should be added to your kitchen repertoire!
This recipe will make about 1 cup of dried daikon bonito style flakes for scattering, or the equivalent to 500g of marinated anchovies (boquerones) style daikon.
Vegan Bonito Flakes (Katsuobushi) or Vegan Anchovies (Boquerones)
Ingredients
- 1 large daikon, peeled
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 80ml (1/3 cup) lemon juice
- 80ml (1/3 cup) white vinegar
- 80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon dried dulse, kelp or seaweed
- 1.5cm (1/2 inch) knob of ginger, peeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce, plus a splash
- 1 teaspoon capers
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked salt
- A few flakes of edible silver leaf (optional)
- splash of vegan Worcestershire sauce
- spray of cooking oil
Instructions
- To make the boquerones, use a paring knife and creative licence to carve the daikon into 8 cm (3 1⁄4 in) long fish shapes. Round off the head and whittle down the tail to make them look like anchovies. Microwave the daikon anchovies for 1 minute, then toss in the salt and pack into a jar to rest for 1 hour. Once liquid has accumulated at the bottom of the jar, pour it out, keeping the daikon anchovies in the jar.
- Blend together the marinade ingredients and pour over the daikon anchovies. Add a splash of water if needed to ensure the liquid covers the contents of the jar. Seal the jar and store for 24-72 hours before using. The longer, the tangier, the better.
- To serve, pour the olive oil into a shallowserving bowl and add a few splashes of worcestershire sauce. Remove the marinated daikon anchovies and shake off the excess liquid.
- Carefully place the daikon anchovies in the bowl. Squeeze each caper between your fingertips, letting the juice drip over theanchovies, before placing them on top. Follow by scattering over the garlic, parsley and smoked salt. Cover the bowl with plasticwrap and transfer to the fridge for at least 1hour to allow the flavours tomeld. Serve to what can only be thunderous applause if you for the full silver- leaf option (see notes).
- To make bonito flakes, use the large holes on a box grater to shred the daikon. Toss the shredded daikon in the salt and pack into a jar to rest for 1 hour.
- Once liquid has accumulated at the bottom of the jar, pour it out.
- Blend together the marinade ingredients and pour over the shredded daikon. Add a splash of hot water if needed to ensure the liquid covers the contents of the jar. Seal the jar and store for 24 hours before continuing
- Preheat the oven to 120°C (250°F). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Remove the shreds from the jar and blot excess liquid with paper towel. Spread the shreds as thinly as possible on the prepared tray, making sure there are no clumps. Splash a small amount of worcestershire sauce over the top. Bake for 1 hour, checking occasionally that no parts are drying more quickly than the rest - agitate if needed, until completely dry.
- Spray a light coating of cooking oil over the flakes and bake for a further 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them and remove from the oven when they have crisped upand begin to blacken. Storein an airtight jar until required and use in recipes such as the Som tam on page 14 or the Caesar salad on page 95 of The Vegan butcher cookbook.
Notes
Get the look! After removing the daikon anchovies from the marinade, place on a chopping board and use tweezers to very carefully manoeuvre edible silver-leaf flakes over one half of each to replicate the silvery two-tone effect anchovies have. Without touching the flake with vour fingertips. use the tweezers to press the silver leat onto the anchovies. Then carefully transfer them to the serving dish.
