It is Asian kind alright. It is commonly grown in India. When tender, both leaves and the root are used for eating. You have to pick it while the leaves and the white root crop are still tender. If you leave the plant in the ground too long, it bears bean like pods. They are cooked with potato. Remember that any vegetable, when picked tender tastes better. Same rule applies to this also. Indu Modali

interesting, so what is the plants name?

It is referred as radish. More commonly in India it is called mooli or muli. Indu Modali

If I am seeing it correctly, it is the type of radish commonly called by its Japanese name, daikon.

Jim

Hey thanks dan! (that's actually my hand and plant in the photo)

I've got a link to my blog, which has the whole saga of the "Mystery Plant" as I've been calling it. I had someone else suggest it was a Daikon but the leaf edges are much smoother than the pictures I've seen of other Daikons, so I wasn't sure if that was right.

I actually managed to root one of the leaves off this plant, and have put it back into my garden to see if it will grow again. If it does, I'm planning to let it go to seed so I can plant more if I want to next year.

Though to be honest, I'm not sure if I will. It was far too strong a radish-flavor for my liking raw, the leaves were "spiney" enough to be annoying to prepare, and when cooked it was all a bit bland. But on the upside, it's a fantastically vigorous plant, so it's a nice thing to plant to impress people with your garden. It grows fast and big.

Plus, if I can get several going next year I'll be better able to experiment with it - harvest at different intervals, try different recipes, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Webpage - Just click

I found a recipe for the root, the link is below. It is a stuffed pancake type dish, it looks rather tasty. I would think the roots would taste much better if it was grown in cooler season of the fall or spring just like salad radishes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipe Link