This pickled carrot salad is inspired by a Korean carrot recipe and is made with warm spices, apple cider vinegar and fresh mint. This is a great paleo and Whole30 friendly side dish or a condiment.
When I lived in Ukraine, I used to love going to our local markets to get a hot dog that was served with an amazing pickled, grated carrot slaw inside the bun. After a while, I started seeing the same carrot salad sold from big wooden barrels and people would buy kilos of it. It’s known as “the Korean carrots.” I doubt it actually comes from Korea, but my guess is that it mimics the process of light fermentation with certain spices and is similar to vegetable sides served in Korean restaurants.
A while back, I found a recipe for Korean carrots online and decided to make my version based on that. The original pickled carrot is made with crushed coriander seeds, garlic, sugar, white vinegar and olive oil. I wanted to give it a more Middle-Eastern/Moroccan spin, so I’ve taken out the garlic and added cumin, chilli and mint. I used apple cider vinegar for its natural sweetness and apple flavour and removed any added sugar.
This dish of lightly pickled and spiced carrot is a great accompaniment to other dishes and I love to roll it in ham or turkey slices with some avocado for a snack.