Momofuku Pickle Pair

Six months after placing my name on the reserve list at the library, my number finally came up. I sped to our local branch, picked up my copy of David Chang's Momofuku cookbook and began pouring over the recipes.

In some ways I was relieved it took six months to get the book. By now I'd heard enough to be a little intimidated by the complexity of the recipes, but I'd also heard that enough was still accessible, albeit for a little more advanced cook. Imagine my delight at finding recipes I knew I could complete that evening that I'd be nibbling off for some time.

I dove into two pickle recipes, hoping I could make a pot of congee later in the week that would take both. The first was a simple sugar-vinegar-salt brine I poured over whites and greens of scallions from our garden. Cleaning the scallions proved to be the most time-consuming part of the recipe, mostly because I was being hyper-picky about the whites. We're going to eat these raw, maybe in Chinese food but also maybe in martinis. I wanted them clean and perfect. These are.

The second pickle is made with a soy sauce-based brine that includes sherry vinegar, sugar, fresh ginger and salt. To that I added soaked, de-stemmed and sliced black (shiitake) mushrooms along with some of the soaking liquid in a saucepot. 30 minutes later, plump mushrooms glistened in the pan and I turned them off to cool. When I got a chance I took a cautious nibble, unsure what I'd made. The flavor was...salty, sweet, sour, earthy - and it exploded in my mouth. The vinegar activated my sinuses and the sugar made my mouth water. Thinking it must have been a fluke, I tasted another. And another. Afraid Todd would catch me eating the entire batch, I polished off a few more and covered them up. If they make it to the congee this week, I'll be surprised.

If you like making fresh pickles, try these out. You can use them in Chinese food, but they'd also do just fine in cocktails or on appetizer plates.

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