Vietnamese dishesPickles and PreservesSouthern Vietnam25 minutes of prep, plus several hours chilling in the brine
These pickled daikon and carrot for com tam come out snapping crisp, balanced between sour and sweet, and they cut through grilled pork chops beautifully. A jar keeps in the fridge for a week of meals.
What usually goes wrong is soft pickles and a scummy brine. The cause is almost always vegetables that went into the jar before they were properly dry. Salting, rinsing well and shaking the shreds thoroughly dry is the step that decides the crunch.
This batch weighs about 1.4kg, at roughly 17 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash and peel 400g daikon radish and 200g carrot, then cut them into strips with a crinkle cutter or a julienne peeler.
Toss 30g fine salt through the vegetables and squeeze them lightly so the salt draws out their water. Leave for 7 to 8 minutes.
Rinse several times in clean water until the harsh saltiness is gone, shake thoroughly dry, then give them a final rinse in filtered water and let them dry.
Dissolve 180g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend in 400g water, then stir in 200g rice vinegar. The brine can be used straight away, or boiled and cooled for longer keeping.
Pack the vegetables into a clean glass jar, pour over the brine to cover, seal and chill for at least a few hours before serving.
Tips
The drier the vegetables, the crisper the pickles and the clearer the brine, while trapped water spoils the whole jar.
A few chili slices dropped into the jar add heat for those who want it.
Strips cut about as thick as a chopstick tip hold their crunch longer than fine shreds.
The brine has to cover everything, as any piece above the surface darkens.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so it is stirred into the water first, rested for 5 minutes and stirred again before the vinegar goes in.
A glass jar rinsed with boiling water and dried completely keeps the pickles good in the fridge for a week.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.