Quick Cabbage & Cucumber Pickles by Adrian Chang (@mykitsunecafe)

This is a simple recipe for a quick but delicious pickle dish.  The flavor is meant to be fresh, salty and aromatic, with a zing of chili and with a crunchy texture. It can be done in as little as 30 minutes or overnight. But anything after 12hrs, it begins to ferment and starts to turn into kimchi…which is not really a bad thing! Either way, eaten in this form, it goes great as an accompaniment to a rich dish like a Japanese Curry or stir fried with meat. It also works well as a standalone salad. You could try using standard Cabbage or a Taiwanese flat cabbage if you shred it finely much like sauerkraut, although you may need to let it sit a bit longer than 30 minutes for it to soften. That said, I wouldn’t say no to a nice raw, cabbage salad!

Quick Cabbage & Cucumber Pickles

Makes about 3 cups, freshly made

7-8 large Napa Cabbage leaves, about 350g, chopped into 1.5-2in pieces OR standard Cabbage, shredded.

1 medium Cucumber, about 150g, sliced very thinly with a mandolin or by hand if you’re fancy.

2 inch knob of Ginger, peeled and cut into fine 2 in long matchsticks

2 dried Chile de Arbol, chopped finely

1 piece of Kombu, about 3″x 4″, reconstituted in water overnight or brought to a boil and soaked off heat for 1hr. Cut into thin slivers.

Zest of 1 Lemon, cut finely into ultra fine slivers

1Tbsp Roasted Sesame Seeds

1Tbsp Sea Salt

Combine the prepared cabbage, cucumber, ginger, chili, kombu and lemon zest into a bowl. Add the sea salt and massage into all the ingredients, making sure to mix everything thoroughly.

Add the sesame seeds and mix one more time.

Place into a large ziplock bag, squeeze all the air out and seal. I do this by getting everything at the bottom of the unsealed bag into a sausage shape then gently rolling the bag and the contents upwards towards the opening, essentially pushing all the air out of the bag as you roll up. Then when you get to the top, seal it. It should look vacuum packed when you unroll everything.

Let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes up to overnight. When done, take it out of the bag, and transfer a portion to a plate for serving, shaking off any dripping liquid. Put the rest into a sealable jar with the brine, pushing it all down slightly to stay under the liquid. Keep in the fridge and eat within a few days to enjoy as a fresh pickle.