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Pickle all the things.
Sweet & Spicy Mustard-Anise Pickled Daikon
I am willing to pickle just about anything... So there's something you probably didn't know about me yet and probably don't care about either but it's a fact. I pickle every vegetable, herb and fruit I encounter. I find that pickles are an excellent way to bring a burst of flavor to dishes without adding excess calories or unhealthy preservatives. They're great in salads, on sandwiches, in bowls, or as sides to just about any dish. I also avoid a lot of waste by pickling parts of vegetables that often get tossed aside (the whites of scallions, the stems of chard or the green tops of leeks).
I don't follow recipes when I pickle because every ingredient requires different treatment based on its natural sweetness, spiciness or tanginess. I am going to include a few recipes for batches of pickles that I've made in the past, but go ahead and play around with the amounts and the ingredients themselves.
All of these recipes are for quick pickles, because they are just so effortless to make. I will keep them in my fridge for about a week, sometimes longer. You can go ahead and properly can them if you want to increase their dry-storage, shelf-life.
Sweet & Spicy Mustard-Anise Pickled Daikon
(See above photo.)
4-5 inch chunk of daikon
~1 cup rice wine vinegar (unseasoned)
~1/2 cup water
2 tbsp mirin (optional)
2 tbsp honey, sugar or sweetener of choice
1-2 star anise pods
1 tsp mustard seeds (black, yellow or both)
a few pepper corns (I used white here)
a pinch of salt or a few dashes of soy sauce
Place the vinegar, water, honey and mirin in a pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the liquid boils, immediately turn off the heat and add your spices. Let the spices steep in the hot liquid until it cools to a safe handling temperature.
While you're waiting for the liquid to boil, peel and slice the daikon into desired shape and size. I did 1/4 inch slices because I was using these in bowls but half moons or cubes work well too. Use your imagination. Place the daikon into a sanitized mason jar (I use my dishwasher to do this, but good old fashioned boiling water works too).
Pour the warm (but not hot) liquid and spices over the daikon and seal the jar. Place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving for flavors to meld and pickles to chill.
Recipe Notes:
Salting then rinsing the daikon is a time consuming additional step that's not entirely necessary, but if you plan on storing the pickles for any amount of time it helps keep them crisp.
These pickles are great in chirashi bowls, "buddha" or "nourish" bowls, salads or on fish tacos.
Spicy Pickled Stems and Bits
I save and sanitize jars to reuse for pickling in smaller batches. This is a great way to save money on mason jars and to reuse products that normally end up going to the recycling plant or the dump. These pickles make use of the parts of produce that often times get thrown out. I love finding unique ways to use every last bit of my produce.
Spicy Pickled Stems and Bits
(See above photo)
2-3 Swiss Chard Stems
1 Fennel Stalk
10 Parsley Stems
1 thai red chili
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp honey or sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp allspice berries
1/4 tsp chili flakes
Place the vinegar, water, honey and salt in a pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the liquid boils, immediately turn off the heat and add your spices. Let the spices steep in the hot liquid until it cools to a safe handling temperature.
Slice your chili, stalks and stems to desired length. I cut mine small for this batch to create more of a relish, but I've also left them longer for serving in salads. Place the produce, chili and crushed garlic into a sanitized jar (I use my dishwasher to do this, but good old fashioned boiling water works too).
Pour the warm (but not hot) liquid and spices over the veggies and seal the jar. Place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving for flavors to meld and pickles to chill.
Ginger Radish Pickles, Garlic Bok Choy Pickles and Scallion Pickles
These are three variations on a basic quick pickle. You can use this pickling method for any vegetable, herb or fruit and you can customize it by adding various spices as in the recipes above. Don't forget that the flavored vinegar left over after you enjoy all the pickles is excellent for making dips, dressings and sandwich spreads.
Ginger Radish Pickles, Garlic Bok Choy Pickles and Scallion Pickles
1 bunch red radishes (any radish works, I've tried watermelon, easter, black, daikon, green chinese, and more and enjoyed them all)
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
4-6 baby bok choy heads
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
4-6 scallions
2 cups vinegar of choice
1/4-1/2 cup water (depending on how tangy you like your pickles)
2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
2 tbsp honey or sugar (more or less to taste)
Place the vinegar, water, honey and salt in a pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the liquid boils, immediately turn off the heat. Let the hot liquid cool to a safe handling temperature.
Prepare your veggies and place in three separate, sanitized jars. Add the sliced ginger to the radishes and the crushed garlic to the bok choy.
Pour the warm (but not hot) liquid over the veggies and seal the jars. Place them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving for flavors to meld and pickles to chill.
Recipe Notes:
The amount of veggies and liquids you will need will vary by the size of jar you use. Don't over cram veggies into the jars, you want plenty of room for mingling with the pickling liquid.
Here are a few ideas to get you going, get crazy!
Things to pickle:
Apples
Radishes
Carrots
Cabbage
Greens
Herbs
Pineapple
Onions
Garlic
Beans
Okra
Chive Blossoms
Baby Corn/Corn
Lotus Root
Artichokes
Things to pickle in:
Cider Vinegar
White Vinegar
Champagne Vinegar
Sherry Vinegar
Rice Vinegar
Spices to add in:
star anise
whole cloves
juniper berries
all spice berries
cinnamon stick
dried whole chili
fresh ginger root
mustard seed
whole coriander
cumin seeds
What are your favorite things to pickle at home?