The Can Jam Month 2: Thai Carrot Pickles

We’re leaving for a week in Paris tonight, and what is the one thing that I have to do before I leave? POST my February Tigress Can Jam recipe! This is going to be brief, considering I haven’t even packed for our vacation yet, but it will give you an idea about what I decided to make. I have made this original recipe (for Vietnamese carrot and daikon pickle) with great success, so I wanted to modify it to only use carrots (which we had in ABUNDANCE from our CSA) and to use some Thai peppers and kaffir lime leaves that a friend’s mother grows. Does adding Thai peppers and lime leaves make a Vietnamese pickle into a Thai pickle? You be the judge!

Sweet and Spicy Thai Carrot Pickles

Adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

• 3 cups white vinegar
• 3 cups water
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 T grated ginger
• 4 lbs carrots, julienned
• Star anise, Thai red pepper, kaffir lime leaves

1. Prepare canner, jars and lids. (For step-by-step canning instructions, read THIS POST from Tigress.)
2. In a large saucepan, combine vinegar, water, sugar and ginger. Bring to a boil over medium/high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add carrots and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
3. Place star anise, halved thai chili, and/or lime leaves in hot jars. Pack vegetables into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch (1cm) of top of jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover vegetbales, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary. Wipe rim. Center lid on rim. Screw band down until resistence is met, then a little further until fingertip tight.
4. Place jars in canner, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for another 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, them remove jars, cool and store.

The resultant pickles were not as spicy as I would have liked, but the texture of the carrots are great, and they are very refreshing. Fastest post ever.

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