Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish, Use this Easy Brine for Everything

Tart, tangy, and just barely sweet pickles are an absolute must for a well-stocked fridge and this super-easy recipe for Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish has only a few ingredients, and the universal, all-purpose vinegar brine can be customized if you want more sweet, more sour, or even want to add some spice! Shall we?

Jump to:

• So What is Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish
• Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish vs Korean Pickled Radish vs Chicken Mu vs Kkakdugi ...all the Radish Pickled
• Is Vinegar Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish Healthy?
• What Ingredients You Need for Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish
• What's the Best Radish for Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish?
• How to Make Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish
• Pro Tips, Tricks, and Technique FAQs
• Best Vegetables to Pickle
• Pickled Carrots and Radishes Recipe

Like some relationships, there is nothing you can actively do to really fuck up vinegar-Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish. You set it up, and you just let it happen naturally. If it works, it works.

If it doesn't, throw it out and start over.

So What is Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish

In case you haven't figured it out by now, let me just say it: vinegar pickles are an essential part of almost every Asian cuisine. Korean cuisine has vinegar pickled banchan and fermented pickles like kimchi. Chinese cuisine has pickled and fermented vegetables and greens. Vietnamese cuisine has these tart and tangy Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish called "do chua" which literally translates to "sour stuff."

No doubt you've seen versions Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish shoved into Vietnamese bánh mì sandwiches, piled alongside broken rice dishes, and accessorizing Vietnamese rice vermicelli bowls. Do chua makes an appearance in Vietnamese dipping sauces, like Fish Sauce Vinaigrette nuoc mam and Hoisin Peanut Sauce for summer rolls and spring rolls.

I make these Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish and put them on just about everything else. They are a perfect for stand-in for both the sauteed sesame carrots and radish on bibimbap, or even just a bowl of steamed brown rice/quinoa. I also eat these Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish straight out of the jar with chopsticks. You know, like a salad.

Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish vs Korean Pickled Radish vs Chicken Mu vs Kkakdugi ...all the Radish Pickled

All of these dishes are made from crisp, refreshing Asian white radish and served as little side dishes. However, Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish, Korean Pickled Radish aka "Chicken Mu," mu-saeng-chae and kkakdugiare all distinct from one another in the way the radishes are cut, prepped, and seasoned.

Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish "do chua" is a type of sweet and sour vinegar pickle made from carrots and daikon radish that are julienned.

Chicken Mu 치킨무 is also a type of vinegar pickled radish, with a similar brine to the Vietnamese version. However, it is made from Korean radish that is cut into small cubes. Chicken Mu is so named because it almost always accompanies Korean Fried Chicken.

Mu-saeng-chae 무생채 is a type of vinegar pickled radish made from julienned Korean radish that is seasoned with salt, sugar, and sometimes a little bit of red pepper. Since it's not fermented, you can also call it a salad. I LOVE this and used to buy giant pre-packed plastic containers of it from the Korean grocery store and just eat it straight from the container.

Kkakdugi 깍두기 is a type of radish kimchi, seasoned with spices and then fermented, which gives it its natural tartness. Korean radishes are almost always cut into small cubes. There are a few different types of kimchi made from different radishes; kkakdugi is this one shaped like cubes!

Is Vinegar Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish Healthy?

Depending on your health needs and dietary considerations, Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish is healthy! I can't really think of a case in which Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish would not be healthy, unless maybe acid from vinegar, or fiber from the carrots and radish causes heartburn or other gastric issue for you because you eat so much because it tastes so f-ing good.

Though they are a root vegetables, both carrots and daikon radishes are considered non-starchy vegetables so they are appropriate for low-sugar/low-carb lifestyles.

Carrots provide a number of nutritional benefits like:

• beta carotene which converts into vitamin A in the body
• additional antioxidants, primarily in the form of carotenoids and anthocyanins
• both soluble and insoluble fiber, which contributes to good gut health, decreases cholesterol, and lowers blood sugar

And did you know that radishes are part of the Brassica family, the same family as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and kale!

Radishes provide vitamin C, which along with a few other compunds, give radishes anti-cancer and anti-diabetes properties. Studies have shown that radishes also support healthy liver function and can improve cardiovascular health.

Health and Dietary Considerations of Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish

As published, this recipe for Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish is:

• 100% plant-based, suitable for vegans
• vegetarian
• dairy-free
• gluten-free
• wheat-free
• grain-free

The recipe is keto, Whole30, low-carb adapatable with a non-nutritive sweetener substitution for the sugar.

What Ingredients You Need for Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish

Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish fresh/refrigerator ingredients:

• carrots
• daikon radish

Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish dry/pantry ingredients:

• rice vinegar
• sugar
• salt

Adding garlic or sliced chile peppers is aa great addition for a flavor or spice option!

What's the Best Radish for Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish?

This recipe calls for daikon radish, a Japanese variety of white radish that is long and narrow. It has a mild flavor and gentle natural sweetness. Daikon radishes are fairly accessible in regular grocery stores where I live, Los Angeles.

You can also use Korean radish, mu (무), which is a variety of white radish that looks like a shorter, wider Japanese daikon radish with pale green skin at the neck and shoulders. Korean radish has firm crisp flesh and a slightly sweet and peppery taste. It is slightly more dense than other radishes, and a more pronounced flavor, though radishes tend to have a mild flavor in general.

For most recipes, Korean radishes and Japanese daikon radishes are near exact dupes. Though it is more likely, for now at least, that you will find daikon radish before you'd find a Korean radish.

Additional Ingredients Notes and Resources

Rice Vinegar. I use this brand organic brown rice vinegar. If you don't have rice vinegar, use any other light/mild vinegar like apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar.

Carrots and any other fresh herbs and produce from either the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Wednesday, Mar Vista Farmers Market on Sunday, or Whole Foods Market when I can't find what I need at the farmers' market.

Pro Sourcing Tip: If you have a Costco memebership, you are in luck because a 6-pound bag of organic carrots is only $3.99! Six pounds sounds like a lot of carrots, but once you start making Spicy Carrot Salad, all these pickles, and fermented fodos, you'll go through them pretty fast.

How to Make Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish

You can eat Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish right away; it will taste like a sweet and sour salad. If you wait just 2 hours, the tangy pickled flavor will really come through. After 1 day, it will be tart, more like a vinegar pickle. After a few days, it will be beyond perfection.

Pro Tips, Tricks, and Technique FAQs

• Adjust Ratio of Carrots to Daikon. Adjust the ratio of carrots to daikon radish to your preference. Some do chua lean more heavily toward daikon with a few pops of orange color from carrots. This recipe is about half carrots, half daikon radish because I love the taste of both. And who's to stop you from making all carrots or all daikon radish? I've done that many times before (as pictured above)
• Pint-size mason jar (16-ounces) fits this recipe. Two pint-sized mason jars (16 ounces each) is the exact size for this recipe. Get the wide mouth version because they are easier to fill AND to wash.
• Save your pickle and kimchi jars! If you buy kimchi in glass jars, wash and save the larger jars once you finish the kimchi and MAKE A VOW to yourself that you will indeed use them for making your own kimchi and Koran pickles and not just let the empty jar sit at the back of your storage drawer with all the other random odd sized jars and plastic tubs you've hoarded through the last 10 years. Yup, there, I said it.
• If this is your first time making Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish, make this recipe exactly as is so you can get a feel for the technique and what you like in terms of flavor. Then on the next batch, which I swear will be in just a few days, you can add other vegetables like white or yellow onions, garlic, or even hot chile peppers for some heat!

Tools and Equipment

As I say for just about any recipe, there isn't any special tool or piece of equipment required to make this Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish recipe. You can make it using a sharp chef's knife on a sturdy cutting board to cut the radish! However, that isn't to say there are a few tools that might make it slightly easier to get the Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish from the farmers market to your fork (or chopsticks):

• Chef's knife, my personal workhorse
• Wooden cutting board, oversized for all those radish cubes
• Vegetable peeler once I switched to this from the old-school swivel style, I never looked back
• Glass mixing bowls 
• Mini ¼-cup liquid measuring cup
• Glass storage containers with airtight lids
• Quart Glass mason Jars
• Glass 1-pint mason jars, wide mouth because they're easier to use and wash
• Mason jar lids that are better than those horrible 2-piece metal lids, these fit all jars labeled "wide-mouth"

How Long Can You Keep Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish?

Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish is a refrigerator or vinegar pickle, not a canned or fermented pickled, not meant for long-term storage. Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish is best prepared and eaten within a few days. But to be honest, I highly doubt leftovers will be a problem.

How to Store Prepped or Leftover Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish

Refrigerator. You can keep Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks as long as you use clean utensils every time you remove some of the radish from the jar.

Freezer. Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish does not freeze well. Just let it chill out in the refrigerator.

Ingredients Substitutions and FAQs

The recipe for this Pickled Carrot and Daikon Radish is considered "fool-proof" because it is very forgiving in terms of ingredient amounts, measurement precision, and technique, i.e. it is not "canning" and there is no watchfulness required. Here are the pro-tips:

• Different Radish? If you do not have access to Japanese daikon radish, you can substitute in Korean radish aka "mu," or "moo," or even turnips! To be honest, the brine recipe is a pretty univeral ALL-PURPOSE vinegar brine, and you can use it on just about any vegetable.
• Different Vinegar? If you don't have rice vinegar, you can also use apple cider vinegar, which will add just the slightest tinge of color as well as a fruity vibe. You can also use distilled white vinegar, though it has a sharper bite so you might need to add a little more sugar.
• Sugar Substitute? Rather than substituting in a non-nutritive sweetener, I generally just reduce the amount of sugar when needed. However, you can substitute in a non-nutritive, natural sweetener like stevia or monkfruit.

Best Vegetables to Pickle

These are the best things to pickle with a vinegary, sometimes citrus-y brine:

• Perfect Pickled Onions
• Salsa Criolla, Peruvian Spicy Lime-Pickled Onions
• "Chicken Mu" Korean Pickled Radish
• Garlicky Soy Sauce Pickled Vegetables

If you want to add some spice to that sour, try these:

• Spicy Korean Cucumbers, Oi Muchim
• Spicy Pickled Radish Salad, aka Mu-Saeng-Chae
• Korean Radish Kimchi aka Kkakdugi
• Spicy Korean Carrot Salad, not technically pickled, but super tart from vinegar!