Do Chua — Vietnamese Quick Pickled Carrots and Daikon
A Vietnamese staple for banh mi, spring rolls, and more!
There’s something that’s so satisfying about sharing food with friends and family. I just love watching other people enjoy the food I prepare. I have no idea what it is. It’s just ultimately gratifying to see people close their eyes while they savour a forkful of chocolate cake I’ve made, or scrape at the bowl to get every last drop of a stew I’ve made from scratch.
Just the sight of people enjoying my food is so exciting, I always have a big dumb smile plastered on my face when they ask if they can have a second helping.
I basically have become an extra member of my best friend’s family, and I find myself always looking for recipes and treats to bring over to share with them. Test batches of cake, cookies, or confections—and every now and then, something made especially for them.
My best friend’s mom has been asking me for this recipe forever, and I had it on my site in an old recipe, but the photo is hideous. I needed to beef up the Vietnamese Dishes section of my recipe index, so I thought, why not reshoot and remake a classic?
Pickled carrots and daikon are a signature addition to Vietnamese dishes. Their bright brine adds a splash of colour to the deep spices and flavours of Vietnamese proteins, while the crunch adds depth and texture to the otherwise soft or dry aspects of something like a banh mi sandwich.
Shooting and making this recipe brought back such a calming and stress-relieving joy that I haven’t felt in a while. Julienning the carrots and daikon, learning how to adjust to the new lighting in my apartment and playing around with the naturally beautiful ingredients, and being able to enjoy something from my childhood.
Vietnamese Quick Pickled Carrots and Daikon are super easy to make. After you prep the carrots and daikon (between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on your knife skillz), all it takes is a quick whisk of the brine, and letting them sit in the brine for at least 20 minutes to get that bright, briny flavour. They’re best enjoyed after a day of pickling, but they’re great after 20 minutes too.
This recipe makes three jars. One for you to enjoy right away, one for later, and one to give to your best friends mom whose face erupts into a gigantic smile at the sight of one of these colourful jars. Add to your next BBQ, rice dishes, fresh spring rolls, or my favourite: homemade banh mi sandwiches. (That recipe is coming up next, so stay tuned!)
Do Chua — Vietnamese Quick Pickled Carrots and Daikon
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized daikon radish, peeled and julienned
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup vinegar
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
Instructions
- Divide julienned daikon and carrots into three sanitized pint-sized canning jars (500 mL)
- Stir boiling water, vinegar and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
- Pour mixture over carrots and daikon until covered. Screw on jar lids and store in fridge. You can use after 20 minutes of pickling. Store in fridge and use within a couple weeks.
Shareba @ In Search Of Yummy-ness says
I made this once, but the pickles smelled really stinky. I don’t know what I did wrong!
Lisa Le says
Oh dear. They do have a distinct scent, it’s not unpleasant to me though. It’s slightly sweet, slightly vinegary =)
Justine says
When cooked or pickled, daikon does have an earthy, some say poopy, smell. You didn’t do anything wrong, and the pickles should taste delicious. If you had pickles in a bowl of soup or in a sandwich, you probably wouldn’t smell it. And maybe after a while, you might grow to love the smell!
Jessie Smith says
Frankly ma’am, the daikon is the smelly part. If you lay the pickles on a paper towel and then wait about 15 minutes before using, the smell will greatly dissipate.
Dianne N. says
Hello,
I’m new to your page and am quite enjoying it. I love your personality and your recipes seem yummy; I can’t wait to try them out. I do have a question about pickling. I actually found you because I was looking for Vietnamese pickle recipes. My favorite Vietnamese restaurant here in CT closed and they had made the most fantastic homemade pickles. I’d like to try my hand at them. I believe the ones I liked the most were pickled turnips. Does that sound right? If so, do you have a recipe for those? Also, if I follow your recipe, on here, for carrots and daikon, could I use seasoned rice vinegar and different varieties of radish and veggies? I have a bunch of different root veggies from the farmer’s market that I’d like to try to pickle; there’s all different colors of radishes, turnip and carrots. Thanks for any feedback you can provide. Congratulations on your beautiful baby as well!
Cheers,
Dianne
Lisa Le says
Hi Dianne, this recipe is for carrots and daikon (which is a type of radish!). I assume that’s what your favourite restaurant would have used :) I recommend using white vinegar, as other seasoned vinegars and rice vinegars will impart a specific flavour that is not typical for this type of quick pickle.
Hanh says
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve always bought these in the bulk section of my local Vietnamese grocery store, but I figured I should learn to make my own so I always have some on hand! The new photos for this recipe are beautiful!
David says
Do you ever add onion to this mix, or do you pickle onion separately? (or not at all)? In some banh mi I’ve had the onion slightly pickled as well, and I’ve never been sure if it’s been picked at the same time as this, or if it’s just been added afterwards.
Lisa Le says
My family has never pickled onions, but maybe that’s a thing! I never see onion in banh mi much.
Jim Swain says
I mix in very thinly sliced jalapeno chips and shallots to taste.
Jessie Smith says
I make thin strips of jalapeno and put them in. My Vietnamese friends did not care for them pickled and take them off their banh mi and put on fresh ones.
shel says
I like to make pickled shallots, per a recipe from Andrea Nguyen’s Banh Mi book. :)
Serena says
Do you add the water/vinegar/sugar mix to the jar when it’s still very hot?
Also, is the sugar content able to be reduced?
Thanks :)
Lisa Le says
Yes, when its hot it’ll pickle it faster and soften the veg to be a softened crunch, it also means that it’ll last longer in the fridge. The sugar content is necessary for the flavour of the pickles, if you reduce it you run the risk of having overly sour pickled veg and will not taste the same as traditional do chua.
Bamboo267 says
Whenever I make this pickle recipe, I always add 1/2 a red onion cut into wedges. Turns out a treat!!
Julie says
Hey! What kind of vinegar should I use?
Lisa Le says
Hi Julie! Just regular white distilled vinegar :)
Inga says
I use rice wine vinegar and it makes it more tasty than regular white vinegar. Better flavor.
Inga says
Yummy pickled veggies
Paula says
Thank you so much. Back in the 80’s I used to go to this donut place that made this incredible Vietnamese sub that wasn’t on the menu. They used this radish carrot combo that I still crave. I knew the basic ingredient’s but not the ratio… I do now though and guess what I will be making soon. Yummy!
Lisa Le says
Whooo hoo!! Yeah it’s a very simple brine that can be used for so many different veggies :)
AJ says
I’ve never used canning jars. Do you have to do anything special to close and seal the canning jars for this recipe, or is it okay to just screw on the lid and leave them in the fridge?
Lisa Le says
I never bother with sealing them, I just use them as normal containers :)
melodía says
A year ago, before I found your website, I prepared vegan banh mi sandwiches for 80 non-Asian Americans. I found a recipe for quick carrot and daikon pickles but used jicama instead of daikon. I thought that the texture would be similar but, without the pungent flavor and aroma, it would be more acceptable to Americans. It worked!
I prefer using rice vinegar so I started to use rice vinegar. Then I realized that using white vinegar for the quantity I made would be much more economical. It turned out fine.
Hours and hours of slicing was not relaxing. I have since learned that a food processor could have done the job in minutes, with only 2 cuts: (1) Place vegetables on the blade on their long edge to make slices. (2) Then place slices over the blade on their long edge to julienne.
Hong says
I have used this recipe multiple times since perhaps 3 or 4 years ago when I first came across it and thought I’d give it a try. Am not sure if I ever tried to leave a comment… had meant to anyway! Must share with you that the recipe produced super yummy and delicious tasting results each time. Even my parents were impressed and they’re Vietnamese and have discerning taste buds. My mom said it was perfect. Thank you for sharing! You are amazing!
Ronnie says
what’s the difference between the recipes that salt the vegetables first to draw out moisture and the ones that don’t do this? thanks in advance!
Lisa Le says
Typically that’s for vegetables that have high water content (like eggplant, zucchini, cucumber) and they’re usually prepared or fried in a way that where you want less moisture. In this case, carrots and daikon are both crunchy vegetables that you want to stay crunchy, so you wouldn’t want to salt them before pickling.
Hillary says
A staple recipe for when I make banh mi! It always comes out great and tastes exactly like restaurants with no modifications. I sometimes even munch on the extras a snacks.
Michelle says
I’m obsessed with your channel. You’re awesome. Enjoy your chats and fabulous recipes. Sending luv from St. Albert, AB Canada. Ps. I just made this recipe today Sept 20/2020. I also had left over shallots and pickled them too! I want to make veggie wraps with rice paper…Thank you for everything. Most enjoyable.
Lisa Le says
I’m so happy you liked it!
Teefy says
Hi! Is there a certain type of Daikon that should be used for pickling? Thanks in advance!
Lisa Le says
Just the big ol white daikon! The korean radish would also work here, but daikon is more commonly found in Asian markets.
Joe says
Hi thanks for your website. We were in a pickle when we didn’t have pickles for a banh mi, but I couldn’t follow the recipe. First step was missing, and so was the salt and the brining part. Could you revise?
Lisa Le says
Hi Joe! Sorry the formatting got a little wonky, but there is no salt and brining part of this quick pickle :)
CapN says
Finally found a recipe for my all time fav pickled!!! Thanks! One question: What size of jar should I use for this recipe?
Lisa Le says
Whatever jar you have :) I used regular pint sized mason jars here but I often use salsa jars these days.
Beverly Lipsey says
Keep coming back for a quick pickle fix… A trusty recipe. Thank you!
Amber says
These came out perfect! Exactly like in Vietnam!