Pickled Carrot and Daikon (Kōhaku Namasu)
This is one of the simplest sweet pickle recipes. Cut carrot and daikon into thin sticks and marinate in a sweet vinegar marinade. That all there is to it.Pickled Carrot and Daikon Recipe (Kōhaku Namasu) is a must-have food in the Japanese New Year’s feast. The long preservation time also is perfect for such an occasion. It’s a vegetarian dish and a convenient item to stock in the fridge at any time.Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- Prep time
- 5 min
- Cook time
- 5 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
- 60 g carrot
- 180 g daikon ((white radish))
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp lemon rind julienned ((optional, note 1))
- 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar ((note 2))
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp konbu dashi ((note 3))
Instructions
- 1
Cut carrot into 3mm/⅛" wide, 6cm/2⅜” long matchsticks, and daikon into 4mm/3⁄16" wide, 6cm long matchsticks (note 4).
- 2
Put the carrot and daikon sticks in a bowl, sprinkle salt over them and mix well, ensuring that the salt is spread over the vegetable sticks evenly.
- 3
Leave for 10-15 minutes to wilt the vegetable sticks.
- 4
Put sugar and konbu dashi in a small saucepan and heat it up until the sugar is dissolved completely (note 5). Add vinegar, mix to make a pickling liquid.
- 5
Take a handful of wilted vegetables at a time, squeeze the water out of the vegetables and place them in a container with a lid or a zip lock bag.
- 6
Put the lemon rind pieces and the pickling liquid into the container/bag.
- 7
If you are using a container, seal the surface of the pickles with a piece of cling wrap with no air bubbles underneath the cling wrap, then place the lid on (note 6).
- 8
If you are using a zip lock bag, remove the air from the bag as much as possible before sealing the bag.
- 9
Store in the fridge. It is best to pickle for at least 1 hour (note 7), preferably overnight.