Vietnamese Daikon Soup with Ground Beef

Daikon soup is a familiar kind of dish in Vietnamese home cooking. For this version, I used Japanese daikon (大根), one of the easiest vegetables to find at supermarkets in Japan.

I originally planned to make the soup with ground pork, but ground beef was around the same price that day, so I decided to try something different. Once cooked, the daikon gave the broth a naturally light sweetness and worked surprisingly well in a simple family meal.

This recipe also made me notice an interesting difference between how soup is often eaten in Vietnam and Japan — something that can actually affect how strongly you want to season the broth.

Quick Info

• Marinating time: about 10 minutes
• Daikon cooking time: about 15 minutes
• Total time: about 25–30 minutes
• Servings: 2–3
• Difficulty: Easy

Measurement note: 1 tablespoon = 15 ml; 1 teaspoon = 5 ml. I use a small 15 ml measuring cup with clear markings for 1 teaspoon, 1/2 tablespoon, and 1 tablespoon, which makes small amounts of seasonings like fish sauce easier to measure accurately.

Ingredients

Main ingredients

• 180–200 g ground beef
• 300–400 g Japanese daikon (大根)
• 800 ml water
• Green onion, optional

Seasonings

For the ground beef:

• 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (about 7.5 ml)
• A little black pepper

For cooking:

• A small amount of cooking oil

For the soup:

• About 5–10 ml fish sauce, depending on your taste

How to Cook

Step 1: Marinate the beef

Place the ground beef in a bowl.

Add 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce and a little black pepper. Mix well and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

While the beef is marinating, peel the daikon and cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Step 2: Cook the ground beef

Heat a small amount of oil in a pot, then add the ground beef.

Cook just until the beef changes color.

There is no need to brown it for very long, since it will continue cooking in the soup.

I used a little oil when I tested this recipe. After eating the finished soup, I felt that if you are using a nonstick pot and ground beef with some fat, you could probably use very little oil or skip it altogether.

Step 3: Add the water

Pour in 800 ml water and bring it to a boil.

Skim off any foam that rises to the surface to keep the broth clearer.

Add the daikon.

Step 4: Simmer the daikon

Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

The daikon is ready when it is tender but still holds its shape, and the broth has developed a noticeable natural sweetness.

Ground beef cooks quickly and can become firm and dry if boiled too aggressively for too long, so I prefer to keep the soup at a gentle simmer.

Step 5: Final seasoning

After about 15 minutes, taste the broth before adding more seasoning.

For this batch, I added about 10 ml fish sauce at the end and found the flavor nicely seasoned for eating with rice.

For a lighter soup, start with 5 ml, taste again, and add more only if needed.

Finish with green onion and a little black pepper if you like, then turn off the heat.

🇯🇵 Ingredient Tips for Cooking in Japan

Japanese daikon

Japanese white radish is sold almost everywhere in Japan as 大根（だいこん）.

After simmering for around 15 minutes, daikon releases a noticeable natural sweetness into the broth. Because of that, I do not think this soup needs heavy seasoning from the beginning. I prefer to let the daikon cook first, then adjust the saltiness near the end.

Ground beef

I usually use ground pork when making this kind of soup, but this time I wanted to try ground beef instead.

The difference was quite noticeable to me. In this batch, the beef gave the broth a richer, more savory aroma than the ground pork soups I usually make.

That is simply my own impression from cooking this version, but I liked the change.

How It Turned Out

After about 15 minutes, the daikon was tender and gave the broth a light natural sweetness.

The ground beef added more depth without overpowering the daikon. Overall, it turned into a very simple, comforting soup that works especially well as part of an everyday family meal.

📝 My Notes After Cooking

What I liked most about this recipe was the natural sweetness of Japanese daikon. After about 15 minutes of simmering, the broth already tasted noticeably sweeter even before much additional seasoning was added.

I used a small amount of oil to cook the beef this time. After seeing how much fat the ground beef released, I think next time I could use much less oil or leave it out entirely when cooking with a nonstick pot.

One thing I found interesting while seasoning this soup was the difference between how soup is commonly eaten in Vietnam and Japan.

In Vietnamese family meals, many people like to spoon or pour some of the soup over their rice, so the broth is often seasoned a little more strongly. For this batch, adding about 10 ml fish sauce at the end gave me the level of seasoning I wanted for eating it with rice.

Japanese people usually eat soup separately, so the broth can be lighter. If you prefer it that way, you may not need any extra seasoning at all, or about 5 ml fish sauce may be enough.