Vietnamese Daikon and Carrot pickles (Do Chua)

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Ever since I was young, my family has been trying out Vietnamese restaurants to find the best Pho, tomato rice with fried chicken and lemongrass pork. I used to look forward the most to the pickled carrot and daikon (radish) which came as a side. I never thought of ever making it but now that I have I can’t really go back to waiting till we eat out again. Unlike other types of pickles this one is quite sweet and not that salty so you can alter it to suit your taste.  These pickles are usually served as a little salad with rice dishes and on Vietnamese pork rolls but I also find them really good as an extra topping on some salads.

Vietnamese daikon and carrot pickle (Do Chua)

Gluten free, dairy free, vegan, soy free, nut free, egg free

Ingredients:

  • 1 daikon (radish)
  • 5 carrots
  • 2 1/2 cups of white vinegar (to keep it gluten free make sure its not malt vinegar)
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 cup of white sugar (plus 4 teaspoons)
  • 2 teaspoons of salt

Method:

  1. Julienne the carrots and daikon to the thickness you like. I like a mixture of super thin and thickish pieces.
  2. In a bowl add the 4 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt and mix around. This should draw out the water and make the sticks soft. Let it sit till you can easily bend the sticks.
  3. Place the daikon and carrots in a colander and give it a quick rinse.
  4. Pack the sticks into clean glass jars.
  5. Add the water, vinegar and sugar to a saucepan and place over low heat till everything dissolves.
  6. When everything is dissolved fill the jars with the liquid till it covers all the vegetables. You might need to jiggle it around a bit to get it into all the pockets and to get rid of all the air.
  7. Leave it overnight before you eat it so all the flavours mix and the vegetables take up the vinegar. Keep it in the fridge till you want to use it. It should keep for a while if you leave it in the cold.

I just had some in my salad tonight for dinner and it was DELISH! Actually, I thought I had too much vinegar syrup so I poured it out before I got rid of all the air bubbles and so I had to top it up with vinegar alone, so it was a bit more sour than I expected. Nevertheless, loving it! Not sure if its considered healthy considering all the sugar, but at least it has no fat! Enjoy!

**Update – Instead of cutting the carrot and daikon by hand I just used the stredding side on the speed peeler and was much quicker. They make smaller pieces so they won’t need as long to pickle.

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