Cooking, Recipes

Save the Season with a Little Help from Miss Kim’s Pickling Recipes!

The nip in the air is bracing. The leaves are turning red, orange, purple and gold. And as lovely as it all is, it also marks the end of summer and the impending close of the Ann Arbor Farmers Market for the season. Here in the Miss Kim kitchen, this change in the weather means that we get busy pickling and preserving.

Here are some of the recipes we use in our kitchen. Ji Hye has translated them for the home kitchen and added some excellent Chef’s notes for your edification!

Master Vinegar Pickle Recipe

For the brine:

2 qt Hot water

1 qt  Rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

3 c Granulated cane sugar

1/2 c Kosher salt

6 qt Your favorite vegetable (not leafy ones)

1. Cut your favorite vegetable or vegetables into bite size pieces (about an inch all around is good, too).

2. Place the vegetables in a container or a jar.

3. Mix all the ingredients for the brine. Whisk until all the sugar and salt is dissolved.

4. Pour the brine over the vegetables. Store in the fridge.

Chef’s notes:

For most vegetables, the hottest water you can get from the faucet should be hot enough. But for harder vegetables like beets, I’d go closer to boiling hot. The harder the vegetable, the hotter the water should be.

This is a master brine that you can play into numerous variations. Add chile peppers or spices to the brine! I have at least 4 different kinds of vegetables pickled this way, and they all taste distinctive and show off the natural flavors of the vegetables very well. My favorite combinations are adding cloves, cinnamon,  and orange peel, or jalapeno peppers and red onions, or adding a up of soy sauce to the master brine for a less sweet and more complex flavor. There is no wrong way to go about it—go wild and have fun!

Soy Pickled Onion

For the soy brine:

3/4 c Soy sauce (low sodium ones without sugar or MSG in the ingredient list)

1 Tbsp Sea salt

3 Tbsp Cane sugar

c Rice wine vinegar

2 c Water

1 Large onion (about 1 lb in weight)

1. Cut onion into quarters.

2. Mix all soy brine ingredients together. Place it into a pot and bring it to boil.

3. Pour the hot brine over the onions. Store in the fridge.

Chef’s notes:

This makes really tasty condiments for burgers, eggs, you name it. I’d take the onion out and julienne it. I’d save the brine and use it as your secret ingredient—add it to mayo and use it for dipping french fries, add it to your salad dressing instead of salt, whip it with herbs and silken tofu for a creamy vegan sauce. This brine recipe also works very well with pickling hot peppers.

Korean Moo Radish Kimchi

For salting the radish:

3 lbs  Moo radish (1 large ones or 2 medium ones)

1 Tbsp Sea salt

1/2 Tbsp Cane sugar

For kimchi paste:

6 Tbsp Korean chili flakes

4 Tbsp Korean salted shrimp (or 3 tbsp Korean fish sauce)

1 Tbsp Minced garlic

2 tsp Minced ginger

1/2 Tbsp Sea salt

Vegetables for kimchi:

1 bunch Scallions

1 bunch Watercress or mustard greens or other spicy, bitter greens

Prep the vegetables and shrimp:

1. Peel the radish and cut into 1 inch cubes.

2. In a large mixing bowl, toss the cut radish cubes with the sea salt and cane sugar from “for salting” ingredients above. Leave in the mixing bowl for an hour. Then drain in colander for about 10 minutes.

3. Cut the scallions and watercress into 1 inch pieces.

4. Finely mince the salted shrimp.

Dress the moo radish kimchi:

1. Place the salted and drained radishes into a mixing bowl. Toss it well with the chile flakes.

2. Add the minced salted shrimp, garlic, ginger and sea salt to the radishes and toss well.

3. Fold in the scallions and watercress gently.

4. Place the kimchi into a jar or an airtight container. Leave out for a few hours, then store in the fridge.

Chef’s notes:

This is the first kimchi that our staff learns to make, because it is one of the easiest! The whole recipe is basically “cut vegetables, toss in salt, then toss in spices and aromatics”. No shortcuts here though—just a very traditional, yet very easy kimchi recipe. In Korea, it’s known as “kkakdukki”, roughly translating to “one that is cut into right angle”. Historically, very perfectly cubed kkakdukki was enjoyed by pregnant women who wished for everything to go right for their child.

Show us your kimchi and pickled vegetables on social media using #misskimannarbor! Enjoy!