Carrots come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties and can be made into numerous different recipes and dishes, but I can almost guarantee that you have not tried today's recipe, Korean Carrot Salad. Typically, Koreans enjoy their vegetables pickled or marinated as sides dishes, or Ban Chan, along with the main meat course and I'll be the first to tell you that the possibilities and flavors are just about endless, and greatly vary from restaurant to restaurant as well as household to household. Whether they are using up random ingredients from the fridge or making some generational recipe, Koreans have perfected the art of making delicious vegetable side dishes. This Korean Carrot Salad takes shredded carrots to the next level by mixing and marinating them with garlic oil and fresh cilantro among other flavors to create a wonderful, simple side dish everyone is sure to love. You don't have to make a Korean dinner to enjoy these carrots as they can pair with just about any meal or holiday feast...Let's Get Cooking!
There really is no prep work for this recipe unless you decide you need to shred your own carrots, and by all means, be my guest but I was lazy and bought pre-shredded carrots myself. Whichever route you choose, simply place the shredded carrots in a large mixing bowl and set aside a few minutes while we get the next 2 ingredients ready.
Next, place a small pan over Medium heat and once hot, add the sesame seeds and toast them for a couple minutes. Once they just start turning a darker brown and you begin to smell their nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat and transfer the toasted sesame seeds to a different container and set aside.
Return that same pan to the stove over Medium heat and add some avocado oil. Any neutral oil will work so use what you have on hand. Heat the oil for a few minutes until it just begins to shimmer and smoke. Carefully add the minced garlic without splashing hot oil everywhere and stir it for 15 seconds or so just to release the natural garlic flavor into the oil itself. I literally mean 15 seconds as we are not trying to cook or brown the garlic itself.
After 15 seconds or so, immediately pour the hot oil and minced garlic over the shredded carrots. Use a pair of tongs and mix well so that the hot garlic oil completely coats all the shredded carrots.
The only thing left to do is add the remaining ingredients. Roughly chop a bunch of cilantro, a cup or so, and add it to the carrots. Additionally, add the rice vinegar, sugar, ground coriander (which is just dry cilantro BTW), and those sesame seeds we toasted earlier. Mix everything together well and season with some salt and pepper.
Cover up your Korean Carrot Salad with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, if not overnight. The longer it sits, all these flavors combine and truly marinate the carrots for better flavor. It's pretty good after 2 hours, but it is 100% amazing the next day, just saying! Other than that, this simple Korean Carrot Salad is done and ready to enjoy. It will obviously pair with any Asian cuisine or just about any meal in which you would regularly enjoy a salad or veggies. It's light, refreshing, and perfect on a hot summer day alongside some barbeque or grilled meats so next time you have extra carrots laying around or just trying to come up with a side dish be sure to give this one a try...Just Keep Cooking!
KOREAN CARROT SALAD
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