Vietnamese Pickles: Đồ Chua

"Đồ Chua" means "pickled things" or "pickled items." This is an easy recipe and you want to use non reactive containers, like glass jars; otherwise, the vinegar can cause other materials, especially most metals, to begin to break down and to seep into the brine and this will add an off taste to the pickles, which then can even cause illness.

You can adjust the amount of sugar for the pickling solution to make it as sour or as sweet as you like. There really aren't set amounts of ingredients for the pickling solution. Regular readers know I frequently mention that I'm not a big fan of sour foods, so I tend to use modest amounts of vinegar or lemon juice in recipes. I like dill pickles, but if they are really sour, I likely will not eat them. On the other hand, some people like sour foods, so this is a recipe you can do to your own preference. Further, you can cut the daikon and carrots into the size strips you want. They can be very thin (like matchsticks) or they can have a "little more" body to them, but you don't want them too thick.   

 

Ingredients (for about two 16 ounce jars):

1 large carrot or 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into pretty thin strips about 2 to 3 inches long 

same amount of daikon radish, peeled and sliced the same way

3 to 4 tablespoons salt, divided use (2 tablespoons for initial salting, then 1 or 2 tablespoons for the brine) 

2/3 cup water, just slightly warm

1/3 cup white vinegar

4 to 6 tablespoons sugar 

 

In a bowl, add salt to the carrot and daikon pieces and mix in well. Cover the bowl lightly with a towel or some plastic wrap and let the salted vegetables sit for 30 to 40 minutes, then pour off the excess liquid that has accumulated. Rinse the veggies. In another bowl, add the slightly warm water, then stir in some of the sugar and 1 tablespoon of salt to dissolve it. Then add the vinegar. Take a little taste to see if you want to adjust the amount of sugar, salt or vinegar. Now add the veggies to a jar or a bowl and pour the vinegar mixture over the veggies to cover. Put a lid or other cover (plastic wrap is fine) over the jar or bowl and refrigerate the pickles for a minimum of 24 hours, but 2 or 3 days is better.    

 

WORD HISTORY:

Infer-This word is distantly related to "bear," the verb meaning, "to carry, to carry or transport a burden; thus also, "to be pregnant;" thus also, "to produce," and it is also distantly related to "burden," and these words are from the Germanic roots of English; and "infer" is more closely related to "differ," "defer," and "fertile," all Latin derived words borrowed by English via French (although likely with Latin reinforcement, or perhaps originally borrowed from Latin, then spread and reinforced heavily by French). "Infer" goes back to Indo European "en," that meant "in" (also the source of English 'in,' a word from the Germanic roots of English), and also Indo European "bher," with the notion, "to carry, to tote or bear a burden." The 'bh' was rendered as "f" in Italic and it's Latin offspring, giving Latin "ferre," with the same basic meaning. Together Latin had "inferre," meaning, "to carry into, to carry forward, to bring forward;" thus also, "to bring forward or draw a conclusion." English borrowed the word circa 1530 (from use by Sir Thomas More?), but the meaning shifted around between the receiver of information and the supplier of information doing the 'inferring.' The 20th Century saw some learned people (who? don't ask me) begin to press for 'infer' to be used only for the receiver of information, and 'imply' to be used for the supplier of information, but to this day not everyone uses 'infer' in that way; rather, the meaning is still used by some to be applied to the provider of information. Example: Many, and probably most, English scholars would now say the verb 'infer' is for the receiver of information, as in, "The weatherman said the temperature is expected to drop and the winds will become brisk. From this I inferred that I had better wear warmer clothing to go outside today." So, the weatherman is providing the information, and another person has heard the information and has drawn a conclusion about what type of clothing to wear, based upon the weatherman's information. But some people still use 'infer' this way: "I'm sure the weatherman didn't mean to infer that the weather would be super cold tomorrow," with scholars likely to favor (or insist) upon, "I'm sure the weatherman didn't mean to 'imply' that the weather would be super cold tomorrow, but I mistakenly 'inferred' that."