The best ever carrots cooked in carrot juice

This amazing method of carrots cooked in carrot juice comes from the utterly fantastic Lucky Peach Magazine (sadly no longer), a quarterly journal of food and writing. It’s a recipe by David Chang, one of my culinary heroes, and comes from an article in the latest ‘Chefs Edition‘ where he challenges a few cooking techniques.

I’ll get to the carrots in a bit, but in this article, which is superbly written by Peter Meehan, Chang says ‘We’ve got to talk about it in the Chefs Issue. About not always blindly following culinary dogma. Especially blanching. And stocks. Boiling stocks is so stupid. And olive oil is a scam for idiots.’

He puts forward a great argument for all of the above with Mark Bittman, and it’s an excellent read.

I love it when chefs rethink culinary methods. Like when Heston made ice cream with dry ice. A simple and small change to an existing way of doing things, and boom, you have something so much better.

I knew immediately that I wanted to test this technique as I get the notion that blanching vegetables in water before finishing them off in the pan is weird. I’m not sure if I agree with Chang’s philosophy about never blanching vegetables because a quick blanch for some dishes (salads) can take the much-needed raw edge off, but cooking carrots (or vegetables in general) in their own juice makes so much sense. The flavour intensifies and they are completely delicious.

David cooks up these carrots in carrot juice, which has been fortified with kombu to add fantastic umami flavour. He’s very big into adding umami. I followed it to the T, and like with most chef recipes, there is always going to be some butter and salt.

Tips for Carrots Cooked in Carrot Juice

• Use about a 15 cm square piece of kombu if your sheets are large – one full sheet would be too much.
• Scrub the vegetables with a hard-bristled brush instead of peeling. The skins hold plenty of antioxidants, and skipping the peel avoids waste.
• To make the juice, you’ll need roughly 6 carrots for 1 cup when using a juicer.
• Cook the carrots in a frying pan with a lid to help retain moisture and flavour.
• As the carrots finish cooking, the juices will reduce into a sticky, caramelised paste – scrape up every bit, it’s packed with flavour.

The best ever carrots cooked in carrot juice recipe

The best ever carrots cooked in carrot juice recipe.

Print Recipe

Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:40 minutes mins

Total Time:50 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup freshly squeezed carrot juice
• 1 sheet kombu I used about a 13cm x 8cm piece
• 1 – 2 T butter
• 4 carrots scrubbed and roughly sliced on the bias I kept it fairly thick
• salt to taste

Instructions

• In a small pot, heat the carrot juice with the kombu (lowest setting and allow it to steep for 20 – 40 mints. I let it simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on and then allowed it to cool and seep for the remainder of the time.
• Melt the butter in a wide pan with a lid and once the butter has stopped bubbling add your carrots. Add a large pinch of sea salt and toss it all around to coat the carrots. Add the carrot juice and cover the pan.
• Continue to cook the carrots until done to your preference, giving the pan a shake now and again or stirring. They should be cooked for around 6 – 8 minutes – or longer if you prefer softer.

Notes

I have not included the steeping time in this recipe.

Store leftover carrots in the fridge and reheat in a microwave.

Servings: 4 as a side

Author: Sam Linsell

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