Blog

Dua Chua – How to Make Carrot and Radish Pickles for Vietnamese Banh Mi, Banh Xeo, Bun Cha Gio

Ingredients:

  • 1 radish
  • 1/2 carrot
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1 rice-bowl size distilled vinegar
  • 5 rice-bowl size water

If you have a cup, use the cup; this rice-bowl is equal to one cup.

Directions:

Carrot and radish preparation:

  1. For carrot and radish: peel the skin and shred. Don’t forget to cut off the head core of the radish to avoid bitten taste later.
  2. Add the salt. Mix back and forth to absorb salt. Continue doing it until the carrot and radish turn soft. Squeeze to remove the water.
  3. Add new water. Mix back and forth again to have no more salt sticking on them. Discard the water and rinse again.
  4. Repeat the step #3 for a few times to make sure there is no salt, repeat around 2-3 times are enough. It will ruin your mixed fish sauce (nuoc mam pha) if there is salt left (salty).
  5. Let them dry… spread thinly would be helpful to evaporate/dry up the water faster.
  6. You can leave them inside the house at the room temperature to dry . It would be dried faster if there is an air conditioner running in the house. Another way to dry is placing them in the fridge but don’t leave them there too long, too long will make the carrot and radish turning bad because they absorb too much water from the fridge. More tips for you trying to dry them: sun-dry, air-dry, food dehydrator, salad spinner…

Mixed vinegar preparation

  • Place 1 rice-bowl size of distilled vinegar and 5 rice-bowl size water in the cooking pot.
  • Bring it to boil, then turn off the heat, let it cool before adding to the radish and carrot.

Radish and carrot soaking

  • Add the carrot and radish to the glass jar. Using a glass jar to make pickles is safer than using a plastic container because there is vinegar involving.
  • Pour in the cooled vinegar, cover, set aside…

Suggestion:

You can use this pickles to eat most of Vietnamese food you like. Use them to eat

  • banh xeo / pancakes
  • banh mi / sub or sandwich
  • bun thit nuong / rice noodles with grilled meat
  • bun cha gio / rice noodles with egg rolls
  • most of steam cakes which are needed to eat with mixed fish sauce.
  • American hamburger or sandwich
  • deep-fried food dipping sauce.
  • any fish sauce… mixed fish sauce… dipping sauce… sauce…
  • …and many more.

Video:

Credit:

Music: This Little Light of Mine, Jazz & Blues Genre, Inspirational Mood, E’s Jammy Jams Artist, Duration 3:00, YouTube Audio Library License, Added Dec 2018