At the time of writing, there is a global pandemic. People are at home for seemingly indefinite amounts of time. Now is a good time to start some long-term planning for fridge-stable foods.
Pickles are a template. Toss vegetables and aromatics into a canning jar with a salty vinegar brine, and leave in your refrigerator for a few days and up to months. Let osmotic equilibrium do its work, and you're left with flavorful cucumbers for once (let's be honest, cucumbers often have the natural flavor of...cucumber La Croix, which is to say not much). Let's talk about these individually:
Đồ chua is a Vietnamese pickle often found stuffed inside the signature sandiwch, a banh mi, but are also found accompanying Bún chả noodle bowls. They're a perfect mix of sweetness and hint of spice from the few Birds eye chilies I like to toss in the jar, as well as the perfect crunchy addition to many meals from SE Asia. Ah-jaht have easily skyrocketed to the coveted "Cooking with Cas Favorite Pickle of All Time" award, which I incidentally just started awarding ten minutes before writing this. Convenient, huh. Think of these like many of the major elements you find in Thai curry, all pickled together to make a quite incredible package, where the cucumbers aren't even the star of the show. The tiny pickled chilies and chunks of ginger/lemongrass are perfect to much on even after imparting their flavor and aroma. Finally, sunomono are a Japanese style pickle that is a perfect addition to your sushi night, for maybe those nights where you don't feel like making miso soup. Sesame is the true crowning flavor here, and the spears make it easier to hold with chopsticks. These are normally made fresh as a cold-pickle-salad in summertime Japan, but there's no reason why you can't have year-round sesame cucumbers. They also make excellent sandwiches with kewpie mixing with the sesame oil and brine. |
Hardware:
Reminder: these are just fridge pickles, so there is no need to properly submerge them in boiling water to make a permanent seal. Trust me, these won't be lasting very long where you'd need permanent storage.
These recipes can and should also be scaled up to meet your desires. I've started with a base recipe to fill a 16 oz wide mouth jar. Go up as you desire. |
Shopping List (Đồ chua):
Place your daikon radish and carrot into a large bowl, and with your hands, massage the sugar into the exterior of the vegetables until it has completely dissolved into the resulting liquid that secretes out. This is a crucial step to help draw excess moisture out so your pickles are more potent after brining. Let this bowl sit for 10 minutes and allow more liquid to pool at the bottom - strain the liquid into a small saucepot with the rice vinegar and salt, and bring to a simmer. Allow to cool slightly - you're not looking to cook the vegetables in the brine, but the heat is still important. Start cramming the vegetables into a large jar and toss in the stemmed chilies if you're going that route. Pour the liquid over the carrot and daikon until completely covered - topping off with a 1:1 water:vinegar brine if you need more liquid. Lid up and stow in the fridge indefinitely. This is by far the hardest recipe in this post. |
Shopping List (Ah-jaht):
Told you pickles were easy. |
Shopping List (Sunomono):
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