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:
  • Cutting board
  • Chef’s knife
  • Wide mouth canning jars with fitting lids (rubber O-ring style Weck jars will also do, just make sure they're wide mouth for easy insertion and extraction
  • Vegetable peeler

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):
  • 250 g Daikon radish, peeled and julienned
  • 150 g Carrot, julienned
  • 2-3 fresh Birds eye chilies, stemmed and optionally seeded
  • 2 tsp Kosher salt
  • 20 g White sugar
  • 2/3 c. H2O
  • 1 c. Rice vinegar

​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):
  • 150 g Cucumber, sliced into rounds
  • 5 g fresh Lemongrass, sliced lengthwise
  • 2-3 Kaffir lime leaves
  • 3 dried Thai chilies, broken in half, optionally seeded
  • 10 g Thai shallot, sliced
  • 15 g Ginger, julienned
  • 15 g fresh Birds eye chilies, stemmed and optionally seeded
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 c. Rice vinegar
  • 1/4 c. H2O

Stuff the vegetables into a jar. Make a brine with the vinegar, water, and salt. Bring it to a simmer, then cool slightly. Pour it in. Lid it up. Into the fridge.

Told you pickles were easy.
Shopping List (Sunomono):
  • 200 g Cucumber, cut into spears
  • 2 tsp Light soy sauce
  • 2 tsp White sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp Black sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
  • 1/3 c. Rice vinegar
  • 1/3 c. H2O

Rub the cucumbers with sugar to break up the exterior (though not as rough as the Vietnamese pickles). Toss in sesame oil and sesame seeds (it's easier to disperse the sesame seeds now as opposed to when they're tightly packed in a jar. Stack the cucumber spears into the jar. It's easier to do this in bundles, and make sure they're all facing the same direction or you'll end up with a cobweb of cucumbers, and fewer overall because your packing efficiency is garbage. Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water to make the brine. Heat it up, cool it down, pour over the cucumbers. Lid on. Into the fridge.
Picture
Gratuitous artsy shot of my kitchen looking into the rest of the house. Don't judge.
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