Essential Cooking Tools: Daikon Grater

Daikon oroshi (grated daikon) is used in many Japanese dishes. It’s used as a flavor enhancer for sauces such as tempura sauce, or mixed into other dishes. Since I used it in the Righteous Tofu Burger, and I’ll more than likely post more recipes that call for it, I wanted to post a photo and some instructions on how to use one.

There are a couple of options for daikon graters. I usually use the all-in-one type (for lack of a better word). It comes with a surface to grate and a flat bowl with a moat that picks up the grated daikon. I also like this design because it gives it a finer grade and you end up with less daikon chunks. You can put it on a table and use your weight to push down on it while grating. I’ve seen plastic as well as ceramic ones in this style. The ceramic ones are nice because they usually come with a rubber stopper on the bottom so it doesn’t move when you’re grating. It’s still a good idea to hold one edge of the moat with one hand while grating.

Tips when grating: Tilt it and start grating from the edge. Once that edge is flat, turn it and start on another edge and keep turning it until you have something that looks like a pencil tip. At that point, grate the tip off until it’s flat and then start at an edge and repeat. I find that this is the easiest way to grate daikon. Also for the all-in-one type, grate in a circular motion.

The other commonly used type is a handheld type that looks like a cheese grater. I have seen this model in metal and plastic.

Tips when grating: Put the grater in a bowl (preferably a bowl with rubber on the bottom so that it doesn’t move) and hold the handle with one hand, while grating with your dominant hand. See above tips on how to hold the daikon. For this style, grate up and down like you would with a cheese grater. I’ve seen this style in both metal and plastic. The metal one grates faster but you end up with more daikon chunks.

All-in-one


Start out holding at an angle.


Hand held


Hold at an angle for both types.


Grate until you've grated off about this much and turn and grate other sides.


Keep turning until it looks like a pencil tip.


All-in-one:


Hand held:


Oh yea, so that's it for BAM 3, now you can make your Righteous Tofu burger if you opt for Sauce 1!