Sunday night I decided to dig up some confit pork (a recipe for another day ) from its lardy home in the back of the fridge to serve with polenta chips (one batch of your favourite savoury polenta, spread in a pan, cooled in the fridge, cut into chips, drizzled with olive oil, and pan fried on each side ‘til browned and crispy). What with all this richness and creaminess, some bite was needed. Enter the pickled cabbage, which Americans would refer to as vinegar slaw (and as far as I am concerned, a much superior product for most applications than its more popular cousin, mayonnaise coleslaw).
I love pickles. Throw something – anything, really – into a vinegary brine and I will eat it. I think lots of people think of making pickles and imagine something difficult, involving sterilised jars and carefully measured vinegar solutions, and so they just buy a jar of something from the store. Next time you pick up some pickled beetroot or what have you, have a look at the ingredients. There’s probably a good chance you’re going to find artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Who needs it? You can make amazing pickles in ten minutes at home with nothing more than vinegar, water, sugar (depending on the recipe) and salt, plus whatever herbs and spices you like. If you’re going to eat them within the week, there’s no need to put them up in sterilised jars – just keep them in a glass, ceramic, or plastic container in the fridge.
The lovely turmeric-yellow sweet-and-sour cabbage pickle aka coleslaw in the photo was a perfect foil to the rich, fatty pork and creamy-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside polenta chips. It was great the next day on a salami sandwich, too. And it was ready to eat less than an hour after I made it.
Sweet and Sour cabbage slaw
½ small white cabbage, cut into wedges and then sliced as thinly as possible
½ red onion (or a whole one if it’s tiny or you love onions), again sliced as thinly as possible
1 red or yellow or green bell pepper – guess how you slice it?
For Brine
½ cup cider or sherry vinegar
½ cup water
2-3 tablespoons soft dark brown sugar
½ tablespoon whole mustard seed
½ tablespoon ground turmeric
Good pinch of sea salt
Bring the brine to a boil and then pour over cabbage, onion, and pepper in a non-metal bowl or jar. If the brine doesn’t cover the veg completely, top it up with equal amounts of vinegar and water. Taste for salt and sugar and adjust to your taste. Cool to at least room temperature before eating, keep in fridge for up to a week. I’ve heard of people who strain, re-boil, and re-use the brine, but unless there’s a critical vinegar shortage I’d just make it fresh, as it’s so easy.
You can use the half vinegar/half water formula to pickle just about anything pickle-able. Adjust the proportions slightly – mild rice wine vinegar will take less water, strong malt vinegar might like a little more. Boiling the brine is an important step for hard vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower, but it isn’t really necessary for something soft like cucumber. If you’re doing a mixed pickle, boil the brine for the hard vegetables and then add in the soft vegetables after it cools.
Here are some more lovely pickle ideas. As before, if the brine doesn’t cover your veg, top it up with more vinegar and water in the same proportions called for in the recipe and adjust the other seasonings to taste. All of these can be kept in the fridge for at least a week, or until the veg starts looking limp (but I bet they don’t last that long). You might want to up the sugar or honey content. And definitely taste the brine and adjust the water and vinegar ratio to your liking – vinegar can vary widely in acidity level. And if you have a mandolin for slicing, or if you want to use the slicing attachment on your food chopper, go crazy! I just use a knife, it doesn’t take long and there’s less to clean.
Japanese-style cucumber pickles – great with rice dishes or miso soup or served on the side of a stir fry.
1 seeded and thinly sliced cucumber
2 thinly sliced scallions (green only)
For Brine:
¾ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ to 1/3 cup of water
1-2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Salt to taste
Leave to marinate for at least 3-4 hours, stir each time you serve to mix sesame oil in as it will settle on top
Sweetheart Cabbage and Coriander slaw with honey-lime dressing – great with grilled chicken or fish or as a topping for tacos or fajitas.
1 thinly sliced Sweetheart cabbage, sliced paper, paper thin (this is important since this is a cold brine and this sort of cabbage is somewhere between a hard and soft vegetable – if in doubt, you can boil the brine, but don’t add the coriander until it cools)
½ thinly sliced white onion
1-3 thinly sliced green chiles (or to taste)
1 good handful chopped coriander
For brine:
½ cup plain white vinegar or white wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
½-3/4 cup water
3-4 tablespoons honey
Salt and black pepper to taste
I love pickles. Throw something – anything, really – into a vinegary brine and I will eat it. I think lots of people think of making pickles and imagine something difficult, involving sterilised jars and carefully measured vinegar solutions, and so they just buy a jar of something from the store. Next time you pick up some pickled beetroot or what have you, have a look at the ingredients. There’s probably a good chance you’re going to find artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Who needs it? You can make amazing pickles in ten minutes at home with nothing more than vinegar, water, sugar (depending on the recipe) and salt, plus whatever herbs and spices you like. If you’re going to eat them within the week, there’s no need to put them up in sterilised jars – just keep them in a glass, ceramic, or plastic container in the fridge.
The lovely turmeric-yellow sweet-and-sour cabbage pickle aka coleslaw in the photo was a perfect foil to the rich, fatty pork and creamy-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside polenta chips. It was great the next day on a salami sandwich, too. And it was ready to eat less than an hour after I made it.
Sweet and Sour cabbage slaw
½ small white cabbage, cut into wedges and then sliced as thinly as possible
½ red onion (or a whole one if it’s tiny or you love onions), again sliced as thinly as possible
1 red or yellow or green bell pepper – guess how you slice it?
For Brine
½ cup cider or sherry vinegar
½ cup water
2-3 tablespoons soft dark brown sugar
½ tablespoon whole mustard seed
½ tablespoon ground turmeric
Good pinch of sea salt
Bring the brine to a boil and then pour over cabbage, onion, and pepper in a non-metal bowl or jar. If the brine doesn’t cover the veg completely, top it up with equal amounts of vinegar and water. Taste for salt and sugar and adjust to your taste. Cool to at least room temperature before eating, keep in fridge for up to a week. I’ve heard of people who strain, re-boil, and re-use the brine, but unless there’s a critical vinegar shortage I’d just make it fresh, as it’s so easy.
You can use the half vinegar/half water formula to pickle just about anything pickle-able. Adjust the proportions slightly – mild rice wine vinegar will take less water, strong malt vinegar might like a little more. Boiling the brine is an important step for hard vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower, but it isn’t really necessary for something soft like cucumber. If you’re doing a mixed pickle, boil the brine for the hard vegetables and then add in the soft vegetables after it cools.
Here are some more lovely pickle ideas. As before, if the brine doesn’t cover your veg, top it up with more vinegar and water in the same proportions called for in the recipe and adjust the other seasonings to taste. All of these can be kept in the fridge for at least a week, or until the veg starts looking limp (but I bet they don’t last that long). You might want to up the sugar or honey content. And definitely taste the brine and adjust the water and vinegar ratio to your liking – vinegar can vary widely in acidity level. And if you have a mandolin for slicing, or if you want to use the slicing attachment on your food chopper, go crazy! I just use a knife, it doesn’t take long and there’s less to clean.
Japanese-style cucumber pickles – great with rice dishes or miso soup or served on the side of a stir fry.
1 seeded and thinly sliced cucumber
2 thinly sliced scallions (green only)
For Brine:
¾ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ to 1/3 cup of water
1-2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Salt to taste
Leave to marinate for at least 3-4 hours, stir each time you serve to mix sesame oil in as it will settle on top
Sweetheart Cabbage and Coriander slaw with honey-lime dressing – great with grilled chicken or fish or as a topping for tacos or fajitas.
1 thinly sliced Sweetheart cabbage, sliced paper, paper thin (this is important since this is a cold brine and this sort of cabbage is somewhere between a hard and soft vegetable – if in doubt, you can boil the brine, but don’t add the coriander until it cools)
½ thinly sliced white onion
1-3 thinly sliced green chiles (or to taste)
1 good handful chopped coriander
For brine:
½ cup plain white vinegar or white wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
½-3/4 cup water
3-4 tablespoons honey
Salt and black pepper to taste
