Russian Korean Carrot Salad Recipe

PhotoHow to make cute garnish flower from carrot

Korean carrot salad is so popular in Russia that we even make our own name, Morkovcha ( Морковь по-корейски салат ). Almost every housewife makes it. Morkovcha is a delicious, refreshing appetizer or starter. The salad is great with meat!

Why do I call it Russian? According to many sources online, this salad is created by Korean emigrants who have lived in Russia for generations. You may not know the fact that Russia is not only a huge country by territory, but also has a lot of people with different roots living in Russia for many generations. An example is the Korean population. By reading a lot online, I learned that Korean people in Korea don’t have this salad and have never heard about it. What is not surprising to me, for example, a delicious Jewish bagel with cream cheese and lox is known mostly in the USA. I have a friend who lives in Israel and when I asked her about the bagel, she had never heard about it. A bagel with lox and cream cheese is one of the most desirable breakfasts in my family!

When I was living in Krasnodar, South Russia, we had a large selection at the farmer’s markets of Korean salads, homemade by Korean-Russian sellers. Every seller has pride in the product. Salads were made with different vegetables and were delicious. My family’s favorite was carrot salad and a cane salad. Of course, every seller has their secret recipe. I tried so many recipes to make myself Korean carrot salad but to be honest, can’t able to make it so tasty like from my favorite seller from the Farmer Market called “Sennoi Rinok”. Maybe the reason is the right carrot. I heard from local farmers that people are selling this salad, buying only certain kinds of carrots that are sweet and moist.

This Korean salad is so popular in the Russian community in the USA, so we have a special kitchen gadget called Korean carrot salad grater and spices mix on the market widely available because of demand. I brought my grater from Russia a long time ago and with time it broke because of hard use. Spices for Russian Korean salad are available in Russian stores in the USA. The recipe below does not require these store-made spice mixes.

Photo Korean carrot salad morkovcha spices

I use this carrot salad in other dishes as well. I added it to spaghetti squash and some salads. It has spice and complements so many dishes.

Recommended ⇒ 7 Easy And Cute Carrot Garnish Ideas

1 1/2 pounds (700 g) carrot

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup vegetable oil without taste

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 onion

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or white vinegar)

Photo Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha Ingredients

Carrot Preparation

For this carrot salad, the cut is so important. The carrot needs to be in the cut square, not a ribbon. We can use different kitchen gadgets, I just mention a few options to Jullien a carrot.

Photo Korean salad morkovcha carrot cut

You can to Jullien carrot with a good knife. Cut base on the carrot for stability and slice. Next step, Jullien carrot. This method is the most time-consuming for me. However, each piece carrot will be just perfect.

2. I saw on YouTube some people use this gadget to Jullien carrot for this salad. Personally, for me is too hard for this amount of carrot. I like this gadget to Jullien carrot for a vegetable salad when I don’t need much carrot to shred. Very handy and carrot will be perfect in a salad. For example, Russian Cabbage Salad

Photo Korean carrot salad morkovcha shredding

3. When I need to shred a lot of carrots, I use my DeBuyer mandoline. It really a time saver. I love the mandolin but it good for a large amount of vegetables and it takes space in my kitchen.

Photo Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha De Buyer

Cooking Direction

Add salt to the shredded carrot and let it stand for 20-30 minutes. Discard carrot juice (or use for something else in cooking). Check the carrot for salt, and add if you need it.

*I don’t recommend marinating carrots with carrot juice because it dilutes the vinegar.

Photo Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha Juice

2. Cut onion into big pieces and try to cut with the center part, so onion wedges stay together when cooking. The onion wedges will be easy to remove from oil. Remove skillet from stove and pour boiling oil on garlic.

We infuse oil with onion flavor and discard onion after. If you on a budget, use onion .

Photo Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha Onion

Tip

Photo Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha Onion Tip If you don’t like to waste food, use just the bottom of the onion to infuse the oil. We usually don’t use the bottom, but don’t throw it away; keep it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. We can also use it in stocks for flavoring or infuse the oil for extra flavoring for cooking.

Recommended ⇒ How to Use Bay Leaves in Cooking

4. Minced garlic place in the center carrot salad.

Photo Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha Garlic

5. Pour hot oil on garlic. The onion pieces large and easy to remove from the salad.

Photo Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha Hot Oil

6. Add vinegar, pepper, cayenne, sugar, and mix the carrot with 2 forks.

Photo Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha Done

Place carrot salad in a refrigerator overnight.

Enjoy!

Best Dishes to Use for Marinating Food

The best dishes for marinating are glass, plastic food containers, ceramic dishes, and zippered plastic bags (space savers). I like to use my glazed clay pots for marinating. These dishes do not react with acidic ingredients and are easy to clean.

💡 Tip:

Dishes to avoid for marinating in aluminium and copper. They react with acid, what is affects food taste and safety.

How to Garnish Russian Korean Carrot Salad Morkovcha

Slice a few very thin round slices of carrot and marinade with salad. Takes a few seconds to do with a knife! When you decorate salad, our garnish will be same taste. In my opinion, the raw carrot flowers will be not pleasant to eat with marinade carrot salad. Another reason, a carrot is not flexible when raw and not always easy to bend it to make these flowers. You can also garnish with carrot waffles.