Momofuku Pickled Carrots

For Thanksgiving we had ordered the Salad Box from The Chef’s Garden. Looking for something a little out of the ordinary for the special occasion we thought a unique variety leafy greens, some which we knew others we didn’t, would make for a great presentation. As it turned out, it was huge success. But we’d made an executive to save the gorgeous carrots that came in the box.

Chef's Garden Carrots

So we had these beautiful miniature carrots, but hadn’t planned on making anything with them. I knew I didn’t want to chop them up into little pieces. There was no doubt these things were going to be prepared whole. It was their birth rite. These carrots knew from day one they were not some workhorse carrot that was going to get cut into a fine dice. God had big plans for these things.

Since we were headed out of town I decided to try a pickling recipe. It would be perfect. If I started them on Saturday or Sunday slender orange bits of deliciousness would be ripe for the picking when I got home a week later. It was destiny.

David Chang has a pickling recipe in his new book Momofuku. The book is awesome. Usually you get a few stories sprinkled throughout the book with the majority of the pages devoted to recipes; this thing is packed with both. The stories range anywhere from how he became a chef, to the developing philosophy of each restaurant, to the story behind each recipe (my favorite.)

Pickled Carrots

Pickled Carrots
David Chang Momofuku
2 pounds baby carrots (as in infant or dwarf, the whittled and bagged supermarket variety), scrubbed, peeled, and attached and clean them well; it makes for a better presentation. The carrots we get from Satur Farms on Long Island are 5 to 6 inches ong and slender – perfect for our purposes. For larger (but still small) carrots, cut them lengthwise into halves or thirds – they should be a size that’s comfortable to pick up and snack on, though they don’t need to be bite-sized.

• Vinegar Pickles, Master Recipe
• 1 cup water, piping hot from the tap
• ½ cup rice wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• Vegetable or fruit, prepared as indicated

1. Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Pack the prepared vegetables into a quart container. Pour the brine over the vegetables, cover, and refrigerate. You can eat the pickles immediately but they will taste better after they’ve had time to sit – 3 to 4 days at a minimum, a week for optimum flavor. Most of these pickles will keep for at least a month, except where noted, though we typically go through them in a week or so after they’ve had a chance to sit and mature.