I had my first daikon tonight. It's okay (sort of tastes like cabbage, which I like), but I found it a bit bitter. Is it always bitter?

It sounds like you got a daikon that was in storage for a while. They can be bitter.

You can combat the bitterness in the same way you would treat eggplant. Liberally salt the cut daikon and let it sit in a colander to drain for half an hour or so. Then rinse and pat dry.

Karen

I haven't had a bitter one yet. Try to find one that is good and firm

Alli

Cooked daikon (other than cubing and frying sort of like hashbrowns) is not my favourite method.

I love it as sticks or shredded in salad, raw. Then it has more of the "radish" substance, and is less bitter.

Cooking, in my experience, does not do it justice, unless I've just been doing it all wrong. However, I did use it in a soup in place of potato, and that wasn't bad. Guess I just don't consider it a vegetable like turnip - boil, mash, etc.

However, your tastes may differ.

Thinking back, I realize that the tip of it was a bit flimsy, so I bet it was pretty old, even though I bought it from the store the same day. I noticed, strangely, that cooking lessened its bitterness.

I don't know about bitter, but it had that sharp raddish taste to me. Is that the way it should be, or is that the bitter everyone is refering too?

It did have sort of a radish-y taste to it, but no, I mean bitter like medicine. However, cooking turned the radish taste into more of a mild cabbage-like flavor.

I find that when raw they taste like a radish, when cooked they definitely get a more mild flavor. I like to think of them as a crispier tater
I'm thinking of trying them roasted, I saw a recipe somewhere here for it. Wonder if it tastes like potatoes that way?
Alli

Well, I made those camping foil burger packets out of them (and some carrots and onion) instead of potatoes, and that's definitely going on my regular "to eat" list.