Last week I made J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Bún Trộn Tôm recipe from The Wok cookbook. Kenji calls for matchstick carrots for that, but also suggests đồ chua as an alternative and provides a recipe for that as well. I couldn’t easily find another reciep that uses đồ chua, so I decided to go ahead and make that it for the bún trộn tôm.

Đồ chua is a quick pickle of carrots and daikon radish. Both the carrots and radish are cut into fine matchsticks in equal amounts. Kenji optionally calls for a fresh chile, too, which I did, a jalapeño. Sugar and salt are massaged into the vegetables and then soaked in water and vinegar. All of that packs into a jar.

I thought it was good. I’ll enjoy having this quick pickle on hand to add a little brightness and crunch to lunches and dinners.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.