Dua Mon (Central Vietnamese Pickled Vegetables), Made with Monk Fruit Sweetener
Vietnamese dishesPickled VegetablesCentral Vietnam1 hour 45 minutes of hands on work, 1 to 2 days drying, 1 to 2 days steeping
Dua mon fills a jar with crisp pickled roots, balanced between salty and sweet, and it is what belongs beside banh tet at Tet. Carrot, daikon radish, green papaya and kohlrabi are dried until leathery, then steeped in a sweet fish sauce brine that deepens the longer it sits.
The hard part is keeping the crunch, since careless prep leaves the whole jar soft and sour within days. The brine has to be completely cold before it goes into the jar, because warm liquid turns the vegetables limp. The glass jar needs a scald in boiling water and a thorough dry, as any trapped water spoils the pickles fast.
This batch weighs about 1.4kg, at roughly 28 calories per 100g.
Method
Peel 200g carrot, 250g daikon radish and 150g kohlrabi, then wash them. Peel 250g green papaya, remove the seeds and rinse it several times to wash off the sap.
Cut all the vegetables into sticks about 0.8 to 1cm thick.
Put the vegetables in a basin, sprinkle over 1 tablespoon salt, toss and leave for 30 to 45 minutes to draw out the water. Rinse quickly once or twice, then drain very well.
Spread the vegetables on a flat tray and dry them in the sun for 1 to 2 days until the surfaces feel leathery. Without sun, dry them at 90 to 100 degrees C for 60 to 90 minutes with the oven door ajar, turning them halfway.
Put 200ml fish sauce, 100ml water and 225g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend in a pot, heat over medium at 85 to 95 degrees C, stir until everything dissolves, then take it off the heat and let it cool completely.
Pack the dried vegetables into a clean, dry glass jar, layering in 5 sliced garlic cloves and 3 chilies cut into rings.
Pour in the cooled brine until the vegetables are submerged, weigh them down and seal the jar. They are ready after 1 to 2 days in a cool spot and better after 3 to 5 days.
Tips
The brine must be completely cold before it is poured, this one step decides the crunch of the whole jar.
A glass jar that is washed, scalded in boiling water and dried well keeps the pickles longer.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so give the pot one more stir just before the heat goes off to avoid grit at the bottom.
Stop drying once the surfaces turn leathery, over dried pieces stay chewy and take up little brine.
The vegetables have to be bone dry before they go into the jar, even a little plain water will cloud the surface.
Use clean, dry chopsticks every time, any oil on them spoils the jar quickly.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.