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“Dilly the Pickle” emailed last week to announce that the 2009 International Pickle Week goes from May 15 to 25 (pickleweek.com). That' s more like 11/2 weeks, but I didn't care because I’m a sucker for cute cartoon icons and pickles of any kind, so I looked in the fridge for my go-to Vietnamese pickle – do chua made of tangy sweet daikon and carrot. This ubiquitous Vietnamese pickle is what’s stuffed into banh mi sandwiches, served alongside morsels such as grilled beef in wild betel leaf (thit bo la lot), and added to salads.
Sadly, my jar of daikon and carrot pickle was mostly brine and a few floating white and orange sticks of vegetables. Oye, what kind of respectable Vietnamese cook was I? It’s not so much that it is national pickle week, but rather that pickles play an important role at the Vietnamese table. They provide textural and flavor contrasts to food. For example, the flavor of rich foods gets cut (mitigated) by a tart-sweet pickle. At Tet Lunar New Year celebrations, you always see several kinds of pickles on the menu as that’s a holiday where lots of fatty dishes are served. In banh mi sandwiches, the daikon and carrot offer a crunch that pairs well with the baguette and the tartness offsets the savory rich meats and mayonnaise. But Vietnamese cooks, like their Asian brethren, prefer to make what I call fast pickles.
Asian fast pickles
Cooks in Asia don’t can the way westerners do using sterilized jars and the like. We eat pickles and preserved vegetables so often – think of Korean kimchi sold in the refrigerated sections of many markets these days and the assortment of Japanese pickles – that it’s more practical to make regular supplies and keep them in the refrigerator, where they last for weeks and sometimes months. This Vietnamese daikon and carrot pickle is sold in bulk at Vietnamese-American markets (check the produce section) and in Vietnam, sold by wet market vendors in small plastic bags. I prefer to make my own and on a regular basis I replenish my ever dwindling supply of do chua.
How to buy daikon radish
Look for evenly shaped, firm, smooth, unblemished skin. I gravitate towards daikon radish that are no more than 2 inches in diameter because they tend to have a milder bite and wonderful sweetness. Really young daikon that are less than 1-inch thick are rather tasteless, and older fat daikon radish can be bitter hot. Farmers markets and Asian markets are a great place to score super duper fresh daikon.
How to deal with stinky pickled daikon
If the daikon develops a strong/stinky odor in the jar, it has not gone bad. Before serving, open the jar and let it sit for 15 minutes to allow the smell to dissipate. Leave the room, if you must.
Daikon and Carrot Pickle
Do Chua (download pronunciation)
Try this daikon and carrot pickle recipe once and then tweak the recipe to your liking. Variations of the include adding tangy-sweet-pungent pickled shallots (cu kieu) to the mixture, as well as making heavier on the carrot side than the daikon side. I prefer to keep a higher ratio (say 2:1) of daikon to carrot as I like the mild bite of daikon radish. I like a tangy-sweet flavor whereas you can alter the ratio of sugar to vinegar to make the brine sweeter, and hence affect the pickle’s flavor.
Makes about 3 cups
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 pound daikons, each no larger than 2 inches in diameter, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar
1 cup lukewarm water
1. Place the carrot and daikons in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt and 2 teaspoons of the sugar. Use your hands to knead the vegetables for about 3 minutes, expelling the water from them. They will soften and liquid will pool at the bottom of the bowl. Stop kneading when you can bend a piece of daikon so that the ends touch but the daikon does not break. The vegetables should have lost about one-fourth of their volume. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water, then press gently to expel extra water. Return the vegetables to the bowl if you plan to eat them soon, or transfer them to a 1-quart jar for longer storage.
2. To make the brine, in a bowl, combine the 1/2 cup sugar, the vinegar, and the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the vegetables. The brine should cover the vegetables. Let the vegetables marinate in the brine for at least 1 hour before eating. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. Beyond that point, they get tired.
Recipe from: Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors (2006, Ten Speed Press)
hi andrea – thanks for sharing this recipe. I just made this this afternoon and finished it in one setting. I can’t believe that I can finally ‘pickle’ something. Thank You. Can I ask you if I can reuse the brine again, otherwise it’s such a waste????d
Terrific, Connie. I’ve never reused the brine again. I suppose you could … make sure it’s not overly funky from the daikon. Maybe pull 1/2 of it (discard it) then replenish with a new 1/2 batch of brine?
What a great cost-saving, recycling question and idea! Thanks.
I find that if you sanitize the container with boiling water, as well as boil the brine and let it cool, it’ll be a seamless process. No chance of things go bad.
Oh yeah, and the brine is not worth using again. The salt and sugar are absorbed by the pickle leaving the brine far less strong than what it was before.
I love DO CHUA! I fight my husband for this stuff. I don’t understand the stink of the daikon. The government should hone the smell and make it into weapons of mass destruction.
Andrea,
Thank you for the recipe. By the way, could I use white wine vinegar instead of distilled white vinegar?
Jamie, Sure you can! You’re pickles will be superb.
I would love to make a batch and put it up in small canning jars – does anyone have experience canning do chua, or would the daikon and carrot lose their snap if canned and kept for longer than a month?
Guess what? This is Connie who initially posted the question of reusing the brine. This is a week later and still enjoying the second batch of this Do Chua right now. As an experiment, I did reuse the brine as is (without following Andrea’s suggestion above) because I am just ‘lazy’ in nature in the cooking department in this busy world. They are just as good! Having said that, perhaps I may not know the ‘finer’ point of Do Chua as I am not Vietnamese. I will reuse the brine once more but no more as an experiment. Will report back to you all later. It’s kinda of funny in a way as it’s more about the work than the cost for me. i.e. dumping out the old brine, measuring the new ingredients, and mixing again. Oh boy oh boy! She should stay out of the kitchen :-))
Thanks Andrea! I am indeed a happy camper with a pretty jar of Do Chua in the refrig all the time.
I should have elaborated in my earlier comment: When I mentioned putting this up in small batches, I meant using the Western method. Paragraph 3 explains that the Western method isn’t typically used, but I’d like to know if that’s a viable alternative.
Connie — Thanks for sharing your discovery of reusing the brine! LOVE IT. Yes, do let us know how many times you can max out the bring.
Wen — To do a traditional western canning, I’d do it like I would bread and butter pickles. Heat up the brine, put my drained veggies in there, and then as soon as the brine comes to a simmer, turn off the heat and ladle them into the sterilized canning jars. Then seal them accordingly and put them in a water bath, per the manufacturer’s instructions. I think that would work and not result in ‘cooking’ the vegetables.
Would you try this out and report back? Thanks!
Updates from Connie again. This is two weeks later and I am enjoying the Do Chua using the original brine solution thrice without changing the brine. The veggies are still crunchy and taste good. One caveat though, I am not Vietnamese therefore I may not know the subtleties since I have not taste tested the three different batches side by side.
No. I will not reuse the same solution again just because I have my limits too :-))
Bon Appetit!!!
Connie, thanks for the update. You don’t have to be Vietnamese to know when the flavor of do chua goes down hill. Your palate will let you know if it’s gone flat, turned funky, etc. Greatly appreciate the udpates.
I tried this day before yesterday and it was so easy and delicious. My husband and I ate the whole batch in two days. YUM!
I found the process so simple but so amazing – when I was “kneading” the daikon and carrot after sprinkling with sugar/salt (step 1), I couldn’t believe it would drain water like the instructions said, but Lo and Behold! There it was. Amazing process.
Now, I can’t wait to try this with other veggies (like purple cabbage….shallots?…..?)
Maggie, I use a similar method for green papaya and
cucumber. You can also just let the veggies sit and they will weep (boo hoo). Thanks for the report back!
hello andrea,
let me first start by saying that you’ve taught me so much through this website and book. i can say that you and mr. noodlepie have taught me almost everything i know about vietnamese food.
i will be attempting your bun bo hue recipe tomorrow. my parents are from hue so i will let you know how it turns out.
ive noticed that they have pickled jalapenos at various vietnamese restuarants in the bay area and i was wondering if this recipe would take me there with the peppers?
thanks again for everything. i hope i can cook you up a bowl one day!
If you’re from Hue, then you can make a fabulous bowl of Bun Bo Hue. No pickled jalapeno peppers for BBH. The chile garnish is cooked in oil with lemongrass, garlic, etc. That’s the classic approach and I like to encourage cooks to try the typical cooking methods before going on to riff on new techniques. Enjoy!
This is so yummy that I eat it by itself. =P I love pickles and this is also better too. ^_^
This is an easy pickle, anonymous. So simple and truly one of the staples of the Vietnamese kitchen.
Thank you, thank you!! I am so happy to find this!! We just moved to Pennsylvania from Hawaii where I used to eat these ALL the time, now I’m pregnant with my second I have been dying to eat this. Now I can make it myself instead of driving 2&1/2 hours to buy it. Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Rachael!
I love carrots and pickles and this recipe is the perfect combination! Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this recipe over here! My sister asked me to do some research on this recipe and I think this one is by far the best!
Would definitely give this a try! Wait, can I use cucumber?
Interestning combination. sour and plain taste is definitely a good choice.
I have been dying to find a recipe like this.
Thanks for sharing.
HAD LUNCH WITH A FRIEND TODAY . WE ATE 2 BANH SANDWICHES A PIECE . LOL . WE BOTH HADN’T HAD IT IN A LONG TIME . SO WE HAVE BOTH WENT ON A SEARCH FOR THE INGREDIENTS . THE VEGGIES WERE SO YUMMY !!! I THANK U SO MUCH FOR SHARING . THIS IS THE BEST WEB – SITE OUT OF ALL THE OTHERS I CAME ACROSS. SO NICE TO READ ALL THE COMMENTS . (:
The carrot contains a lot of water (almost 90%) and calories, contributes to the diet only 40% of calories. It is also an effective antioxidant and skin protector. The human body needs about 2 milligrams of vitamin A and the carrot contains between 4 and 10 mg. per 100 grams. This is essential to provide a harmonious development of children’s bodies.
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This is such and easy pickle, and tastes better then the one they have at the local Chinese restaurant.
I’m sure that this has a very different but wonderful taste. My mother in law is from Vietnam and I try (sometimes) to make her native dishes.. She’s an excellent cook but never wants to teach me! It’s frustrating!
-Kenzie
Made these last night to go on my version of a banh mi sandwich. Thanks so much. Really good!
Don t listen to those who say，”It’s not done that way.” Maybe it’s not， but maybe you will. Don’t listen to those who say，”You’re taking too big a chance.”
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Un I hope you all have a blessed days!
Il suffit de dire merci ne sera pas seulement suffisante, pour que la clarté exceptionnelle à l’intérieur de votre écriture. Je pense que j’ai enregistrer votre site pour les mises à jour futures. Un grand merci.
* be happy together is good enough. I am not asking for things that I could never get.
Hey there!
Is there a way I can substitute seasoned rice vinegar instead of using the distilled white vinegar? I know that they are different in taste, but I’m not sure if it will ruin the recipe! what should i do?
Elise — Seasoned rice vinegar is flavored so a better option would be using unseasoned rice vinegar. If you want to use the seasoned vinegar, taste and tweak the brine before adding it to the vegetables.
Hi Just found this blog via Maki’s Just Bento blog. Looks great!
To add to the Western canning question: from my understanding, you can’t just can anything–it has to have the right acidity level or there is a risk of botulism. And you can’t taste botulism! You need special equipment to test acidity levels accurately so I prefer to follow vegetable canning recipes from an approved source rather than make them up. One of the recommendations is to always use vinegar that has at least 5% acidity.
Bernardin’s web site does offer a variation of Vietnamese Carrot and Daikon pickles that is safe for home canning.
http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_page/51.php?pid=450
I’ve tried it and it is pretty good — my fellow canners thought it was great on fish tacos. I will definitely try your version and do a taste comparison.
Thanks for the recipe!
(BTW I am not affiliated with Bernardin in any way, I just buy their canning jars.)
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Yesterday, I made a quick run to your website, lto grab the brine ingredients I knew would be here – too lazy to pull out your cookbook, in with piles of other CBs. Had a bunch of browser tabs open, hastily scribbled down the ingredients, and pickled my carrot/daikon last night. This morning, couldn’t wait to taste it. Didn’t taste quite right. Good, but not “right.” I shrugged, thinking I needed to reduce the fish sauce a bit.
Had some of pickled veggies with dinner. Just now, came back to site to read the recipe (yeah, what kind of know-it-all doesn’t read the recipe *before* trying it?) (um). I wanted to see what kind of tool you used to make skinny strings of carrot and daikon, and whether you sold the tool. Hmm, recipe only says to julienne the veggies. I idly read on, into comments, and someone asked about substituting different vinegar.
Whaaa? What vinegar? My “brine” had lime juice, water, sugar, fish sauce, a little sambal olek (out of chile garlic and it’s ingredients) plus a dash of Togarashi pepper. One makes do with what one has in the pantry. The *bite* of my pickle was just right. Puzzled over the vinegar question, I went to top of recipe to look at your ingredient list. … No lime juice … no fish sauce.
LOL. Yep. Looks as if I used the nuoc cham ingredients to brine my carrot and daikon. Not that it didn’t taste good, but I kept thinking, gee, this doesn’t taste quite like what I get at the restaurants.
I am cracking up. What a riot. Now I know how to make nuoc cham — only my version comes with carrots and daikon in it! That’s one mystery solved.
Back to my pending question: really, you julienne the veggies with a knife? I would cut myself to ribbons. I used an Asian *peeling* tool I found, pulling it down the veg, which was not a pretty sight. And it created too-skinny strands. No crispy left, all limp. I see bags of long beautiful carrot strings (how do they do that?) at nearby Viet mom & pop shop, but like you, I’d rather do this myself.
I tell ya, Andrea, making this pickle is not quite the piece of cake it might appear, especially when *someone* doesn’t’ make sure she has the right recipe, and doesn’t think she needs to read directions either. 🙂
Has anyone tried using apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar?
CocoJ: Yep, I julienne my vegetables with a knife so I can get the size I want. I’ve tried various julienne tools but the clean up is never as easy. Glad you’re in the same boat. Do read recipe direction to get the gist of what to do. They you can follow it to a “T” or do it your own way. But was it that bad??
Apple Cider Vinegar vs. Unseasoned Rice Vinegar: You can certain use the cider vinegar. I should not affect much. Try it out and let us all know!
Andrea: Noooo, it wasn’t bad — the recipe was fine. I was making fun of myself for screwing it up by not paying attention. Even tho I grabbed the ingredients list from wrong recipe, if my brain had been in gear for even half a second, I would have realized there was no fish sauce in this marinade, for petes sake! User error.
I think I will try to emulate you and use the knife method next time (pray for my fingers). I was thinking the veggies had be to super thin, but my julienne tool made them too thin, so I can appreciate the need for better control. Also, the tool made a wonky uneven mess of the veggies when getting near center core, making it hard to use all of it.
You are right: reading recipe through is wise (even experienced cooks may learn a new trick). I usually (key word, usually) read recipe and, for the most part, even “try” to make recipe as written on the first making –unless I can’t tolerate a given ingredient. Even there, I try to give the unknowns a chance.
Have loved your blog for long time — thanks for all your sharing!
This is a great article. Wow, so many of these things I never thought of before. I often read posts, even on this site, and I think they are great, but I don’t take the time to leave a comment. I’m going to start leaving more comments for sure.
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Hi Andrea. Thanks for the very informative post. Just wonder how long will home made pickles keep in the fridge once they’re ready for eating?
Okay, coming to this as a Johnny-come-lately, but HOLY COW is this recipe great! My husband wanted to do an Asian theme for the 4th of July and I had wanted to try a variation of a Bahn mi. This pickle was so good that EVERYONE scarfed it down! I can’t thank you enough for sharing this!
Dear Andrea,
I have tried your Vietnamese Style Chille paste and it was sensational. I would love to try this with BUN BO HUE. Do you have a recipe for this dish. Will definitely buy your book too. Is it available in Australia?
I make a cauliflower pickle using the same brine, cut cauliflower into bite size pieces ad the brine it will be ready in 24 hrs, I like mine on the sweet side so I ad a bit more sugar ( peel garlic work as pickle too)
Hi,
Is there a recipe that uses no vinegar and uses active fermentation? I recently made dill pickles for the first time with water, dill, garlic, spices and salt. Turned out great – couldn’t stop eating them.
Thanks,for this beautiful post and it’s fascinating questions!
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I am sure that he will absolutely love it. My son has done it a couple of times.
Hi Andrea, thank you for your recipe. How come do Chua is so stinky at home but when you go to banh mi places you can’t smell it? When I make it, it seems to smell up the whole fridge and when I take it out to eat it, it smells up the whole kitchen. Why is it that when you go to banh mi stores or Korean restaurants that have pickled daikon you cant smell it? Do they do something special to get rid of the smell?
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Hi Andrea! I have made more than half of the recipes from your book “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors” I’m American and my husband is from Ho Chi Minh so being able to bring these foods to the table is important in my home. I pickled shallots using your recipe and I’m trying this next!
Hi Melanie! Wow, thank you for reaching out. Your husband is a lucky man. I LOVE those pickled shallots as much as this one. Enjoy.
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I tried to do pickled carrots and daikon last weekend, but when I tasted it 2 days later, everything tasted like the farty smell of the daikon 🙁 I don’t mind that the daikon is smelly, but I don’t think it’s normal that it actually taste like it smells… What could have gone wrong? The recipe seems so simple! 🙁
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I make the brine with ratio of sugar:vinegar:water – 1:1:3.5; a traditional way to make the brine is to add all three ingredients in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. then leave for it to cool down. then pour it over the vegetable.
I’ve been looking for a recipe for these pickled vegetables. You won’t believe how many times I’ve eaten banh mi and they don’t give me enough of these pickled vegetables! Now I can make my own.
i am a fan of Viet pickle, but the vinegar in Vietnam is made from banana so it has a very light and mild taste, but here, i only can find vinegar with grape or apple, very strong to me, do you have any tips for that? thanks
Thank you! Just made a batch!
Thanks for sharing this recipe over here! I love carrots and pickles and this recipe is the perfect combination! Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this recipe over here!
Since, I’m lazy, is it possible to just put the daikon and carrots into the juice from a regular pickle jar (eg, from Nalley’s Pickles,etc) and let it soak/brine in that juice?
Not sure if my post made it thru, but here it is again.
Since, I’m lazy, can I just put the daikon and carrots until the juice from regular pickle jar such as from Nalley’s Pickles (after I’ve eaten the regular pickles already and just the juice left)?
Im a vietnamese and my mom always reuse the brine as she makes a new batch of pickled mustard greens. But instead of using all of the brine, she just use a little and add more cool boiled water enough to cover the veggie. She said it will save brining time and taste better. I guess we could apply this to pickled daikon and radishes too. Hope that helps.
Andrea, I love you cookbook and website but was wondering why do you need to salt and wring out the vegetables? Just curious as I noticed a lot of other vietnamese recipes don’t require this. Does it help with the crunch factor?
I never made any pickles before, and am no great friend of radishes, either. But this method of pickling intrigued me, and it worked so well that I was very pleased with the outcome. Since I couldn’t get any daikon, I used little red radishes (they were quite pungent), and the mixture tasted just fine.
I wonder…would this also work for fresh sliced lotus root? (As a way of preserving it)
Could you substitute Korean radish for the daikon?