Recipes are not my usual subject, but it’s vegetables month and I have been making pickles again, now that the weather is warmer. They are so easy and so tasty that I insist you have a go. I started out with this Smitten Kitchen recipe, which is great but takes a bit of time. These days I mostly make quick Asian flavoured pickled cucumbers inspired by something I saw in the Waitrose magazine. They’re slightly sour and spicy so are perfect for making sandwiches a bit more interesting.
Pickled Cucumber
2tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
half a cucumber
This is for a small jar – it should be completely filled with cucumber so if your jar is bigger, you’ll need to adjust the amounts.
Measure the vinegar, fish sauce and sugar into a jar with a tight-fitting lid and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Add the chilli flakes. Slice the cucumber thinly and pile it in – you may have to pack them in around the sides to fit them all in. If you have some left over, just wrap tightly and keep in the fridge to swap in when you eat some. You will think there’s nowhere near enough liquid but it will be fine.
Shake it up gently and put the jar in the fridge where you can see it so that every time you open the fridge you can give it another shake. After a few hours, you’ll notice there’s a lot more liquid. Leave overnight for the best results.
You should eat these fairly quickly, though it should be safe enough in the fridge for a few weeks. I find these pickles go well in pretty much any sandwich.
It’s also Pickle Week in the Spoonflower fabric design contest! I wish I’d had time to enter this one but I’ve been voting for my favourites.