Fresh Salmon Cooked in Grated Korean Radish with Ponzu Sauce
This is an amazing dish to cook for yourself if you enjoy salmon!
It’s unlike most Western Salmon Dishes – more along the lines of Japanese (Izakaya Dining) or Korean Home cooking.
Tonight, we’ll cook fresh salmon in finely grated Korean radish and top it off with a few spoonfuls of homemade ponzu sauce.
But why cook it in Korean radish?
Korean radish (known as mu in Korean) is naturally sweet and filled with a very refreshing juice.
When heated – the sweetness is accentuated. Making it work beautifully as a broth.
That’s why Koreans use it when cooking traditional soups/stews like Korean Radish & Beef Soup, Dongchimi and Doenjang Jjigae!
Today, we’ll also finely grate the radish for texture. And extract liquid to cook the salmon in.
What will we season it with?
In this dish, we don’t season the salmon or radish. We’ll extract their natural flavors.
Then season before eating with Ponzu Sauce – which is salty, tart and tangy!
Note: This ponzu sauce recipe is from Just One Cookbook. We tried out several recipes over the weekend and this one was on point!
Ponzu Sauce is a Japanese citrus-infused Soy Sauce. It’s made of a mixture of citrus fruit, soy sauce, rice wine, bonito fish flakes and dashima.
Traditionally, Citron (aka Yuzu) is used for the citrus part. But this fruit is hard to procure in most countries.
So we’ll substitute with orange and lemons.
(You can of course buy Ponzu Sauce from your local Asian market!)
Cooking notes
We recommend cooking this dish in a clay or earthen pot - we use this one.
The clay pot will retain its heat and keep the grated radish hot during your entire meal - very comforting!
But of course, you can still make it in a regular pot.
You can also substitute the Korean radish with Japanese Daikon.
Cook this on a low heat! And if your radish is slightly old or dried out – doesn’t release enough liquid when grating – feel free to add a little bit of water to the pot.
Alrighty, I hope you like it! Tag us on IG with a big smile if you do heh!
-Daniel out 🕺

Ingredients
- 2 Salmon Filets
- ⅓ a whole Korean Radish (Or use Japanese Daikon)
- Handful of Chopped Green Onions (For Garnish)
Ponzu Sauce
- ½ Cup Soy Sauce
- Lemon Zest from 1 Lemon
- 6 Tablespoons Lemon Juice (2 Lemons)
- 2 Tablespoons Orange Juice (¼ Orange)
- 2 Tablespoons Mirim (Rice Wine)
- ½ cup Dried Bonito Flakes (Katsuobushi)
- 2-3 Small pieces of Dashima (Size of your palm)
Instructions
Make Ponzu Sauce
- Take out a mixing bowl. Mix in Soy Sauce (½ cup), Lemon Zest (of 1 whole Lemon), Lemon Juice (6 Tablespoons), Orange Juice (2 Tablespoons), Mirim (2 Tablespoons). Give it a good stir.
- Then add in the Dried Bonito Flakes (½ cup). As well as the dashima pieces (3-4 small pieces). Give it one final stir. Cover the bowl and store in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 6 hours).
- Next day, place the sauce through a strainer and store in a sauce container. (This should last about a month in the refrigerator).
Prep Ingredients
- Peel the Korean Radish and grate it. We recommend using the big holes in a grater (reference video).
- Cut green onion into small pieces for garnish.
Assemble Pot
- Take out a clay pot. Place the salmon filets in. Then add the grated radish over the filets and around the pot. Also, add the radish juice into the pot as well. This will serve as the broth!
- Place lid on. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, check if salmon is fully cooked through. If not, give it a few more minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Garnish the pot with chopped green onions. Then drizzle a few spoonfuls of the Ponzu Sauce over the steaming radish.
- Serve with a bowl of hot rice! Bon Appetit!
Ainole says
Wonderful weeknight recipe when you come home late. I'm not sure it turned out as juicy as yours but great clean taste overall.