Japanese Pickled Carrots

KaffirLime's Note:

Pickles are a big part of Japanese dining. Small dishes of vegetables like daikon, carrots, etc are usually part of a meal. My friend's mother makes this at home and keeps a long time! I use it as a side to my sandwich lunch!

• Total Time: 23 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 3 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 1 cup mizkan rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup sesame oil
• 1/2 cup black sesame seed, lightly toasted
• 12 carrots
• salt

Directions:

1. Boil water in a medium pot and add about a heaped teaspoon of salt.
2. In a large porcelain bowl, place the 3 ingredients, rice vinegar, mirin and sesame oil.
3. In a separate bowl, grate carrots with a mandolin, about an inch in length.
4. When the water starts bubbling, add in the grated carrots to blanch.
5. Count to 10.
6. Remove carrots and drain.
7. Toss carrots into bowl with the 3 ingredients and mix well.
8. Add sesame seeds and toss again.
9. Let it cool to room temperature.
10. Squeeze them into a few medium size jars with the remaining juice.
11. Keep refrigerated.
12. Stays crunchy and fresh for months!

Reviews

[Sakkano]

Barring the sesame seeds, I prepared this recipe for onigiri filling, but I finely shredded the carrots so they will be easier to use as filling.

Flavor-wise, they taste much like carrots and peanut butter but a slight acidic bite. And a delight in an onigiri. The sweetness of the carrot with the bitter of the vinegar and the hint of nuttiness that makes an awesome combination.

[mliss29]

This is not a "no-star" review, but I'm not sure if I changed it too much to fairly review it. My grocery store doesn't have mirin, but if I can find alcohol-free mirin, I will try to more faithfully create the recipe. I looked on the web for mirin substitutes and came up with using the seasoned rice vinegar for the rice vinegar mentioned and using soy sauce in place of the mirin. This combination is *so* good! I really love these. Thanks! Reviewed for Healthy Choices ABC tag game.