How- To no1: Make Radish Lotus Flowers/ Roses

The finished lotus flowers/ roses

Introducing the first in a new series of "how-to"s... Every month (around mid- month) I will post instructions on a cooking basic/ food preparation technique, which I hope will be useful. Your comments and own experiences are most welcome, as are requests for particular instructions. Today's technique is how to create flowers from radishes to garnish salads, buffet dishes etc. They are great when you have guests to impress, and when you want to make Krishna's offering look really special! If you don't succeed at first, then keep trying; they come out best when you can cut the petals really thinly. My tip: Make more of these than you need and choose the ones which look nicest.

1: Wash radish, take a sharp knife and "top and tail" it as shown.

2: Carefully cut thin slices nearly all the way through to form the outer  layer of petals.

 3: Do the same for 2 more layers of petals, working your way inwards.  Be really careful not to  cut all the way through and break the flower, while still trying to get the petals as thin as possible. (The radish you see here had to have its  petals cut again thinner before they would fan out. )

4: Now cut a grid in the centre to form the stamens/ inner petals. Cut as deep as you can without breaking the flower.

5: Drop the radish into a container of iced water and refrigerate for 2-4 hours to allow the "petals" to open. Be patient! If after a couple of hours only the outer layer of petals has fanned out, carefully re-cut the inner ones thinner.

The finished flowers look really pretty on green salads.

PS: Look here, here, here, here and here for a few salad and dip recipes from this blog which would look and taste great with radish flowers as a garnish. Or use the blog's search engine in the right hand sidebar.