Q: At one of my first restaurant jobs I had to make gobs of coleslaw and my boss told me I had to rinse the carrot shreds before putting them into the coleslaw or it would make the slaw brown by the end of the day.
Since then I've noticed that if soups call for shredded carrots, if I don't rinse them, the soup gets orangeish. What's the deal, then? Is it necessary? Does it harm flavor?
Sent by Matt
Editor: Matt, we found this question so interesting! We aren't going to be very helpful, though, since we have never heard of this! We often put grated carrots into salads and slaws, but we've never rinsed them. It hasn't seemed to affect the color. Perhaps, though, the rinsing gets rid of any extra juice that will color or oxidize?
Readers, what do you think? Do you rinse shredded carrots?
Related: Do You Have a Great Recipe for Carrot Salad or Slaw?
(Image: Matt of Dad Cooks Dinner)
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My cole slaw always turns orange when I add carrots, so maybe this is what I need to do. I'll give it a try and get back to you. ;)
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The orange color from the carrots is carotine, the natural pigment of the carrots. shredded breaks open carrot cells and releases the juice. Keep it, it's full of Vitamin A precursor and flavor components.
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