Autumn is the time of year when Mom loves to make pickled vegetables. Her selection ranges from pickled Chinese mustard to cabbages.
And sometimes you’ll find a few tasty selection of bean sprouts, ginger root or eggplants somewhere in the mix.
These homemade pickled vegetables may be a bit funny smelling to some people, but to me it’s a happy jar of good food. Not to mention good for you too!
The sad part is that I have yet to sit down and learn to make pickles the way Mom does it. But this weekend I did try to make my first pickled carrots and daikon radishes. It was a simple method I’ve seen Dad made when I was younger. All you need is a little bit of vinegar and water. I hope they turn out well.
Besides family recipes, I came upon this neat book which I think would be a good addition to my cook book collection. This book seem interesting as the recipes are more like projects for making good pantry food. And also neat for making edible handcrafted gifts too.
Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it by Karen Solomon. Karen will teach you how to pickle vegetables, make jams, and cure meat. These would be fun projects to do, especially on chilly afternoons.
Here is how Karen makes her pickles. It’s pretty simple, but she suggested salt sea over regular salt for an extra crunch. I may just try that next time!
Perfect pickles by Karen Solomon
“Start with a hot liquid brine to partially blanch hearty winter vegetables. The brine will break down their tough flesh, allow other flavors to penetrate them and help preserve them. Here are some tips for making winter pickles:
– Use only quality fruits and vegetables; inferior produce yields inferior results.
– Keep all food containers and kitchen gear very clean, and always use a clean utensil - never your hand - to stir or procure pickles from the container. Intrusive bacteria can make pickles go fizzy or turn to mush. Sterilizing the containers is best.
– The type of vinegar is a matter of preference. Some prefer white vinegar’s snap and color-preserving qualities, while Happy Girl’s Champagne prefers apple cider vinegar for its “ripe fruit taste.” What’s far more important is the right amount of acidity for preservation - usually 5 percent vinegar is sufficient.
– Salt is necessary for flavor and as a preservative. Sea salt results in a crunchier finished product, but kosher salt is a fine alternative. You can also use iodized table salt, but it might cloud the pickling liquid.
– Additional spices like garlic, chile pepper, mustard seed, star anise, dill seed, cumin, turmeric or whatever else strikes your fancy should be fresh, flavorful, and whole so as not to cloud the brine.”
A note from the editors at Amazon for Karen’s book:
“Food and crafting enthusiasts look forward to the weekends to create, experiment, and stock the pantry with handcrafted edibles and gifts.
For creative urban dwellers, the kitchen is a workshop space, and JAM IT, PICKLE IT, CURE IT is its how-to guide.
This savvy collection of 75 recipes for creating homemade artisan foodstuffs features delicious projects easy enough to be completed in one to two days.”
Visit Karen Solomon here. She has many more neat articles on the subject of food and more.
6:14 am on November 8th, 2009
Thanks Cambree. I might just try the green bean pickling method she showed on amazon.com…looks very easy to make. Karen kind of reminded me of Julia Child:))
9:29 pm on November 8th, 2009
Hi PaNoy,
Will you be using green beans from the garden? As Karen would say, quality produce makes quality pickles. Good luck!
And yes, I do see some Julia in her.
10:55 pm on November 9th, 2009
I pickled my dad’s crab apples this year, but only used boiled salt water. I think it should be ready to eat, but have not checked on it yet.
This is interesting that they use vinegar, my mom used salt and some cooked jasmine rice to pickle her vegetables, and it normally turns sour in a couple of days.
11:11 pm on November 10th, 2009
Hi Nye,
Somehow I never made some for myself, just not sure how much to put in the jar. I should learn, maybe by end of this year.
Our Mom has the same way of making pickled veggies - w/o vinegar and it is good!
Btw, pickled crab apple sound very good… I hope it turns out well for you.
4:27 am on November 12th, 2009
I made Lao style vegetable pickled before (without the vinegar), but it was a hit and miss type of thing, I think I squeezed it too hard. There was a Lao lady that lived in TN, but passed away several years back and she made the best Lao style vegetable pickled, hers was still crunchy and the vegetables look real fresh, she said the key was in the technique, don’t squeeze it too hard, I need to try it again soon.
9:37 pm on November 12th, 2009
Hi Nye,
I guess techniques are just as important as recipes here. I will remember that when I try to make my own pickled veggies soon.
This might sound strange, but my mom’s pickled veggies are the only ones I’ll eat. The idea of having a stranger’s hand squeezing my food scares me!
JK.
5:14 pm on November 15th, 2009
Love the mustard green pickled. Mom makes it all the time, and sometimes she asked me to squeeze them, but hers always tasted better than mine. I think also the microbes from our hands help give it flavors as well…some folks just have great tastey microbes:))
Same idea as microbes in our stomach that help with different pharmaceuticals breakdown and absorption, etc…again, certain people have better microbes.
9:24 pm on November 15th, 2009
Cambree, this Lao lady used a plastic gloves, and I noticed that many Lao people in the US use either a plastic gloves or zip lock bag for sanitary reason.
12:36 am on November 16th, 2009
It seems like everyone mom make the best pickle anything. (^_^) I feel the same way too. My mom make the best pickled mustard green.
I would love to learn how to make Kimchee.
6:12 pm on November 17th, 2009
Nye - Wouldn’t it taste like plastic? JK. But I still don’t think I could eat it.
PaNoy - Well, I never thought of microbes…. good one.
Dallas - I agree! Mom’s just have the special touch. And when you’re sick it would be chicken soup… nothing like mom’s version.
7:46 pm on November 19th, 2009
Cambree, you sound like one of my sisters, I told her that she would never survive a day in Laos, and a good thing that she doesn’t plan to visit.
10:09 pm on November 30th, 2009
[...] my favorite sandwiches is the Vietnamese sandwich, Banh mi. I filled this little sandwich with the pickled daikon and carrots I made a few weeks [...]