Last year we began receiving a weekly CSA share (Community Supported Agriculture) from our friends at Urban Roots Farm. It’s a thrill to pick up our beautiful bounty each week and start dreaming about what meals will come from it.

The challenge of you get what you get can be inspiring. It’s a lesson in resourcefulness, an opportunity to stretch creatively, a chance to work with new, unfamiliar ingredients. And for all of those reasons, it can be maddening, too. But this week, well this week was just fun.

Among the bounty was a handful of white radishes, also known as daikon, that quickly and without complaint were grated, pattied and pan-fried into crisp, golden cakes.

Radish Cakes & Curry Dipping Sauce
Makes 8 radish cakes and 1/3 cup sauce

Ingredients
For the cakes:
2 cups white radish, grated
½ teaspoon salt
1 Egg, whisked
1 Clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon scallion , roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cilantro, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

For the sauce:
¼ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Lime, juiced
1 teaspoon curry powder
Dash of Sriracha

Grate the white radish into a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the radish with salt and let sit for 20-30 minutes. The salt helps dry out the moisture in the radish, which makes frying easier. While the salt is at work, put together the curry dipping sauce.

Make the curry dipping sauce in a small bowl by whisking together the heavy cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, curry powder, and Sriracha. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Mince the garlic, chop the scallion, chop the cilantro then set these aside. Return to the grated radish, squeeze out the excess moisture using your hands and discard the liquid. Pat dry with a cloth or paper and return it to the bowl. Add in a whisked egg, garlic, scallion and cilantro. Season with black pepper. Fold in panko bread crumbs.

Patty into small cakes, about 2-3 inches across. Grease your skillet and pan-fry each cake on medium heat, about 3 minutes on each side, until pan-fried brown. Serve warm and enjoy with the curry dipping sauce.