Quick Pickled Shredded Carrots

Name: Quick Pickled Shredded Carrots
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups carrots (grated on large holes of box grater); 1 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned, plain); 1 cup hot water; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Ready to eat in 30 minutes, these quick pickled shredded carrots (inspired by Vietnamese do chua) are a tangy sweet topping for banh mi sandwiches, spring rolls, tacos, salad, pita pockets and grain bowls.

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🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

Grated carrots - By grating the carrots, they will pickle very fast, since they'll be in small pieces. Grated carrots are also very tender, so you can use them freely without worrying about them being too hard to bite through. You could also use julienned carrots for a little more of a bite. For a time cheat, use a bag of pre-cut julienned carrots from the grocery store. Since these are bigger pieces, they will take a little longer to pickle.
Rice vinegar - We're using unseasoned, plain rice vinegar in this recipe. Seasoned rice vinegar (sometimes called sushi vinegar) already has sugar (often in the form of corn syrup) and salt added to it.(I prefer to add the sugar and salt on my own, so I can control the ratios and what type of sugar and salt is added)

📋 Substitutions and variations

Carrots - sub with julienned daikon radish (or half carrot, half daikon radish for a more traditional do chua for banh mi) or shredded cabbage, thinly sliced red onion or thinly sliced red radish
Rice vinegar - sub with apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar
Sugar - sub with sweetener of your choice

🔪 Instructions

Peel your carrots and then grate them over the large holes of a box grater. You could also use a food processor for this, if you'd like.

Add your grated carrots to a quart-size glass jar or glass container with a lid.

Mix the rice vinegar, hot water, sugar and salt together until the sugar and salt has dissolved. Then, pour the liquid over the carrots.

Cover and then refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before serving.

If using julienned carrots, allow to pickle for an hour before serving.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Serving suggestions

These quick pickled carrots are a perfect tangy topping for:

Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches
Vietnamese spring rolls
Tacos
Pita pockets
Grain bowls
Salads
Pasta salad

❓ FAQ

How should you store quick pickled carrots?

These pickled carrots should be kept refrigerated in a covered, glass container.

How long will pickled carrots last?

Pickled carrots will last for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator.

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