Namasu is carrot and daikon radish lightly pickled in sweetened vinegar. Crunchy and tangy with a bright taste, it’s a refreshing salad enjoyed year-round. With its celebratory red and white colors, it‘s also an important dish in Osechi Ryori or traditional Japanese New Year foods.
Namasu (紅白なます) is daikon and carrot salad lightly pickled in sweetened vinegar. Crunchy, slightly sharp with a bright refreshing taste, Namasu can be enjoyed all year round.
Table of Contents
What is Namasu
Namasu (なます) is daikon and carrot salad lightly pickled in sweetened vinegar. It’s also called Kohaku (red and white) Namasu (紅白なます). It was first introduced to Japan from China around the 700s (Nara period).
Red and white are considered celebratory colors in Japan and these colors are often used in many traditional ceremonies. Namasu has been especially enjoyed during the New Year in Japan and you can find this dish in Osechi Ryori (Japanese New Year foods).
Why We Should Make Namasu
- Easy and kept well – Namasu is extremely easy to make and can be prepared ahead of time.
- Goes well with any dish – If you like lightly pickled salad, you will enjoy this dish as an appetizer or as a side to your main dishes like grilled fish and meat. I like to add this in the kids’ bento boxes as well.
- Add colors to your meal – Wonderful way to introduce multiple colors to your plate! Besides daikon and carrot, you can also include cucumbers for another layer of color and crunch.
- Easily accessible ingredients – No special ingredients are necessary. Crunchy root vegetables along with sugar, salt, and rice vinegar.
3 Cooking Tips
- Even thickness – Whether you cut into julienned strips by yourself or use a mandoline or a julienne peeler, try to have equal shapes for the best texture.
- Squeeze! – The key to this dish is to make sure to squeeze out all the liquid from the veggie, it creates optimal crunchiness.
- A hint of citrus – In Japan, there are usually a few strips of yuzu zest added on top of the salad. Yuzu strips add an amazing citrus fragrance to the dish. For those lucky ones who can access to fresh yuzu in your area, you’d definitely want to include it in this salad.
If you’re serving namasu for your Osechi Ryori (New Year’s food), don’t forget to check out the other popular dishes which I shared here.
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Namasu (Daikon and Carrot Salad)
Video
Ingredients
- 14 oz daikon radish (4 inches, 10 cm)
- 3 oz carrot (2 inches, 5 cm)
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Seasonings
- 1½ Tbsp sugar
- 1½ Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- 1 Tbsp water
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Garnish
- 1–2 strips yuzu zest (optional)
Instructions
- Before You Start: If you will include this dish in your Osechi meal, I recommend preparing it 2–3 days before you plan to serve. For more helpful tips on planning your Japanese New Year feast, please read my A 5-Day Osechi Cooking Timeline blog post.
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Peel 14 oz daikon radish. Next, peel 3 oz carrot.
- Cut the daikon in half so each piece is 2 inches long. This will be the length of the daikon matchsticks in the final dish. Next, julienne the daikon: First, cut the daikon lengthwise into thin slabs about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick.
- Then, stack a few slabs together and cut the daikon into matchsticks, about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Put them in a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining slabs.
- Julienne the carrot: Cut it lengthwise into thin slabs and then into matchsticks about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Add them to the bowl with the daikon.
- Add 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt to the bowl and gently rub it into the vegetables. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine all the ingredients for the seasonings: 1½ Tbsp sugar, 1½ Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned), 1 Tbsp water, and ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- Whisk well together until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Squeeze the liquid from the daikon and carrot matchsticks. Add them to the bowl with the seasonings and toss well to combine.
For the Garnish (optional)
- Cut off 1–2 strips yuzu zest from the base of the yuzu (so you can create a yuzu cup (optional); see the next section). Flip them over and cut off the white pith, if any.
- Then, cut the zest into thin julienned strips.
To Serve
- Serve the Namasu in a bowl and garnish with the yuzu zest. If you have a whole yuzu fruit, you can create a yuzu cup: Cut off the top (to serve as a lid) and remove the fruits inside without breaking or tearing the cup. Then, add the Namasu to the yuzu cup and serve.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and keep them for 3 days in the refrigerator or for up to a month in the freezer.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on December 23, 2013. It’s been republished on December 29, 2023.
This sounded so good I signed up for e-mails .
Hi Tony,
Thank you very much for signing up for our newsletter!
We hope you enjoy many easy Japanese recipes from our site. Happy Cooking!
This is so simple to make and so refreshingly tasty! I make this whenever I need a pop of color and it works perfectly as an extra side dish. Bonus points that the kids love eating it too! Thank you for the easy to follow instructions!
Hi Ponyo!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear your kids love this Namasu too. Yay!😊
Hi Nami,
How many days before can I make this?
Thanks!
Hi Stefani,
You may prepare it 2 days before your serving day.
If you are thinking of packing the Osechi, Here is A 5-Day Osechi Cooking Timeline: https://www.justonecookbook.com/osechi-cooking-timeline/.
We hope this is helpful. ☺️
Thank you Nami!
Thank you 😊
Hi Warren,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe!
Hi Nami,
I love this recipe! It’s so light and refreshing.
I used to slice the daikon and carrots into match sticks with a knife, but I found a Julien peeler in the back of a drawer and it’s cut down the prep time significantly.
Hi Sonia! I’m glad you enjoy this recipe! Oh yeah! I have one of those too! Be careful when it’s closer to the small piece because both daikon and carrot is very dense/hard vegetable and julienne-peeling is a bit hard.
I had extra Chinese daikon and carrots. The end result was that the daikon was quite bitter. Do you think it is the type of daikon? I notice the Chinese ones are much thicker and bigger. Japanese ones are shorter.
Hi Maggie! I know some daikon is bitter, spicy, and dry… they may work well with braising, but not great for eating raw. Japanese eat daikon raw using it for salad, pickles, etc. So we try to pick juicy, sweet daikon. Even the same daikon, the top green area is sweeter than the bitter root side.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/daikon/ (see green part on top?)
When eating raw, we try to use sweeter parts of daikon. 🙂
Love this recipe for my bento box! I like to have a mild pickle-y dish as a contrast to everything else, and this fits the bill perfectly. It’s very refreshing and easy to make, with the only time consuming part being cutting the vegetables (I don’t have a mandoline).
It’s also very tasty on a hot dog, in place of relish. The things you try with random fridge leftovers, LOL! Arigatou gozaimasu for a great recipe! <3
Hi Cameron! Thank you for trying this recipe. Oh I love that you’re using it for a hot dog – it cuts the grease and I can totally imagine the taste. YUM! Thanks for inspiring me! 🙂
Hi Nami.
In the Namasu recipe, you said –
“ Besides daikon and carrot, you can also include cucumbers for another layer of color and crunch.” —
how should I slice the cucumber?
Thanks.
Hi Jackie! It should be all julienned strips. Typically we try to cut the ingredient into same shapes so when you eat, there is harmony. When ingredients are cut into julienned, you will not see some cubed cucumber pieces, for example. This applies to simmered foods etc. Cut into similar shapes and sizes. 🙂
This recipe comes out great and is very easy to make. I’m starting to learn just the basics of Japanese cooking so I made it along with some salted fish and rice, and the pickles MADE the dish. This is now one of my go-to recipes for pickles – meals are haven’t been them without pickled veggies. Thank you!
Hi Silvia! So happy to hear you liked this pickled recipe! I like simple Japanese meal like what you made. I’m happy with grilled fish, miso soup and white rice along with pickles or small sides to enjoy steamed rice. Thank you for your feedback!
[…] Recipe: justonecookbook.com […]
Hi Nami,
We had this with the ginger rice and salmon. It was delicious and so refreshing. I’m wondering why water is added to the dressing if we salt the vegetables to get rid of the water. And also it seems like it was 2 to 1 ratio daikon to carrot from the pictures and measurements, but the note says 5:1. If I double the recipe to keep in the fridge will it lose crispness? It’s so pretty.
Hi Carmen! Thank you for trying this recipe with ginger rice and salmon recipe! So glad you liked it. 🙂
Salt to the vegetables is not only used for withdrawing water but also making it more wilted. Water to the mixture is to dilute the vinegar so it is not too strong.
About the ratio. Everyone’s daikon and carrot size (how fat and big it is) is different, so 1:5 ratio is just my made up ratio to show that daikon should be primary. 1:2 ratio has too many carrots. It should be mostly white color with pretty red color in between. 🙂
May I know how do you make the daikon and the carrot soft ? It looked soft in the picture.
Hi Kat! By pickling it it. The carrot and daikon will be still crunchy but become more flexible texture.
Sorry for my late response – I’ve been catching up my old emails and found yours! I hope you had a great holiday and Akemashite Omedeto! 🙂
Hi Laura! Thank you for your kind message. 🙂 I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my blog and thank you so much for following my blog! Happy New Year to you and your family!
I hadn’t known that this dish was so easy! Thanks for sharing the recipe, and I can’t wait to try this out for New Year’s — I absolutely love the sweet and vinegar-y taste. =) I hope that you and your family have a warm and wonderful Christmas!
Hi Kimmi! Yes it’s so easy! I’m glad to hear you have tried this dish before. Thank you for being a wonderful reader Kimmi! Happy New Year to you!
Great recipe for a quick lightly pickled salad that goes well with many dishes, especially richer or oily dishes as the pickle cuts well through it!! Love that it’s such an easy dressing that could be used on a great number of vegetables, and that the flavour could be adapted by leaving to pickle for shorter or longer amount of time
Hi Jenny!
We are so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.😊