Szechuan Pickles | 四川泡菜

Name: Szechuan Pickles | 四川泡菜
Prep time: 5 h 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 5 h 40 min
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese
Ingredients: 3000ml Water; 2 Apple; 3 Star Anise; 3 Pieces of Bay Leaves; 2tbs Szechuan Peppercorn; 1 Whole Jar of Pickled Green Chili with Brine; 150g Rock Candy; 1cup White Vinegar; 1.5cup Chinese Whisky- BaiJiu; 100g Salt; 2 Lemon; 1.5tbs Chicken Powder; 2tbs Szechuan Peppercorn; 1/3 Round Cabbage; 2-3 Carrot; ½ Daikon; 10 Red Radish; 5-7 Mini Mak Radish; 250g Long Green Beans; 120g Fresh Garlic; 80g Mixed Thai Chili（red and green ones）; 3-4tbs Salt (for marinate only); 3-4 Scallion; ½ Bundle of Cilantro; 5 Slices of Ginger

8 steps

Prep:5h 25minCook:15min

Keep in mind: All kitchen appliances used during the making of this pickle dish, such as chopping boards, knife, cooling tray, tong, etc. must be 100% clean, dry, water and oil free as any slight stain of oil and/or bacteria will ruin the pickling brine, and it will definitely fail. When the brine begins to bubble, the broth will start to turn cloudy and darkened- usually within 3-4 days, that’s when you know the fermentation has started. With a ceramic jar, you’ll start to hear little “burps” as the gases escape. Test pickles periodically to assess sourness, using clean and oil free chopsticks or spoon, and make sure they are always covered with brine. Add water to the moat every few days as it evaporates to keep moat mostly full. If you keep the brine for weeks, periodically clean the jar’s lid with soap and water and sop up the water in the moat with a paper towel before replacing it with fresh water. As you use the pickles and the brine recedes, replenish the crock with more salt water, Chinese whisky – BaiJiu, seasonings and fresh & air-dried vegetables. Add water and salt in the same ratio as your original brine, using either filtered water or boiled-and-cooled water. Even if no additional liquid is needed, add more salt whenever you add a new batch of vegetables. No need to dissolve salt first. Continue making new batches of pickles in the brine for as long as it tastes fresh. Sichuan picklers can keep a brine going for years!

Updated at: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 21:40:49 GMT

Ingredients

30 servings

Instructions

Step 1

In a clean and big pot, add in cold water, star anise, bay leaves and Szechuan peppercorn, bring to boil.

Step 2

Once boiling, add in sliced apple, continue to boil for 10 more minutes. Remove pot from heat to cool off completely.

Step 3

To make Szechuan pickle brine, in the broth, further add a jar of pickled Thai green chilies (you may buy from store), rock candy, white vinegar, Chinese whisky- BaiJiu, salt, lemon juice, chicken powder and Szechuan peppercorn. Mix well, set aside.

Step 4

Clean and slice vegetables you would like to pickle into smaller pieces, some good vegetable option would be round cabbage, carrot, daikon, mini Mak radish, red radish, celery, lettuce stem, red or green pepper or young ginger.

Step 5

Season sliced vegetables with salt for at least 20 minutes to release water from inside the vegetable, rinse with water thoroughly a couple of times to get rid of the salt. Transfer cleaned vegetables to air dry on a tray for a few hours (to make sure they are not wet on the surface).

Step 6

In a big glass pickling jar (5000ml in size), add in fresh and dry pickle vegetables, you may place fresh Thai chili and garlic, sliced ginger, scallion, cilantro at the bottom of jar, then top with vegetables of your choice. Finally add in cooled pickle brine we have made, fill it all the way up to the neck of the jar- moat. Seal jar with adding water around the moat, put the lid on.

Step 7