pickled foods

Much of this recipe is malleable, but the ratio of salt to water is not: Too much and you kill any ferment, too little and everything can rot. Your nose is a good guide. If your fermented greens stink like rot, don't eat them. They should have a pleasing pungent smell like a cross between mustard and dill pickles. Once the greens have fermented to your liking, seal the jars and store in the fridge. They'll last this way for a year or more.

Pickled Mustard Greens, Chinese Style

water

kosher salt ((see instructions))

star anise

Sichuan peppercorns ((optional))

A 2-inch piece of ginger, (sliced thin)

cinnamon

molasses sugar

mustard

Bring everything but the salt and mustard greens to a boil in a large pot. Turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Pour everything into a vessel that you can weigh, and weigh the water plus spices in grams. Write this down.

Wash you mustard greens well, then shake them dry and weigh them in grams. Write this down.&nbsp;

When it's cool, weigh out 2 percent of the total weight of greens + water + spices in salt. Dissolve this in the liquid. If you use fine-grained salt you should have no problem. If the salt doesn't want to dissolve, stir until it does.&nbsp;

NOTE: If you don't want to weigh all this out, just use the salt ratio I have in the ingredients list. It is approximately the same, but not exactly.&nbsp;

Get out your fermenting crock or 5 quart-sized Mason jars with 5 narrow jelly jars to keep the greens submerged. You need this many because you will only pack the greens in 3/4 of the way into the jars -- you want at least 1 inch of brine above the level of the greens.&nbsp;

Submerge the greens in the brine, using a chopstick or skewer to get rid of any air bubbles. Put the weights on the greens if you have them. If not, place the Mason jars in the sink and put the narrow jelly jars in them. The brine will overflow but the narrow jar will prevent the greens from contacting the air. Set the jars on a baking sheet and put in a cool place away from direct sunlight.

Let them ferment at least 3 days, or longer. Mold may form eventually. This is normal. I wait until the mold cap is pretty solid, then pick it off. It's not harmful unless it's black.

Finish by packing jars tight with the fermented greens, leaving about 1/2 inch of brine over them. Tighten the lids and put in the fridge. They will continue to ferment very slowly, so open the jars every week or two to release pressure. If you want to kill the ferment, boil the brine and cool before packing the jars the final time.

I find that white, lean fish work best for ceviche. I've made it with bluefish and salmon before but I don't like it so much; you might have a different opinion. My standard ceviche fish is Pacific rockfish or lingcod that's been pre-frozen. Any sort of snapper, grouper, black seabass, porgy, sea trout, white seabass or yellowtail will work, as will pre-frozen freshwater fish like walleye or perch.

Basic Ceviche

pre-frozen lingcod, (rockfish

limes

lemons

grapefruit

Salt and black pepper

red onion, (sliced root

Roma or other paste tomatoes, (seeded)

corn, (kernels sliced off)

habanero or rocoto chile pepper, (or more to taste)

cilantro

Slice the fish into small, bite-sized pieces. Cut the tomatoes into pieces the same size as the fish and set them aside for later. Zest 1 lime, 1 lemon and the grapefruit and grate them fine; I use a microplane grater to do this. Mince the habanero fine. Juice all the citrus. Add all the ingredients except for the tomatoes and the cilantro to a bowl or plastic container with a lid and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Add the tomatoes and cilantro, mix well and serve cold with chips.

The crunchiness of this kraut really shines with the fennel, but if you don't have that much fennel lying around, you can certainly use this recipe to make a standard cabbage kraut with these seasonings. You can also use wild fennel, which doesn't set much of a bulb, but does have a sort of thick part at its base in spring that you can use if you slice it thinly.

Fennel Sauerkraut

fennel bulbs, (sliced thin)

cabbage

salt

juniper berries

caraway seeds

celery seed

fennel seeds

wild carrot seeds ((optional))

Mix the shredded fennel and cabbage well in a very large bowl. Put down a layer of the vegetables about an inch thick in a 3-gallon crock. Sprinkle with salt and some of the seeds. Repeat until you have everything in the crock. If you can, mix it one more time. Place a plate or somesuch on the kraut and weigh it down with a large jar of water. Put the crock in a cool, dark place.

The next day, check to see if the vegetables have given up enough brine to completely cover themselves. If not, make some brine and add it. You want the brine to be 2 percent by weight, so 19 grams (or 0.7 ounces) of salt per quart of water. Let the sauerkraut ferment at between 60°F and 73°F for at least a week, and up to a month.

To finish, remove the weight and plate and move the finished kraut to quart-sized canning jars. If there is not enough brine to completely submerge the fennel kraut in the jars, make more brine as you did in Step 2. Cover the jar with their lids and store in the refrigerator for basically ever. I've had batches of sauerkraut last 2 years in the fridge.

Any species of grape will work with this recipe. Make your preserved grapes leaves when the leaves are fully grown, but not old and battered by the weather. May and June are good months where I live. Once made these grape leaves will keep in the jar for a year or more.

Preserved Grape Leaves

grape leaves, (stems removed)

Salt

lemon juice

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add enough salt to make it taste like the sea. A general rule is 1/4 cup kosher salt to 1 quart of water.&nbsp;

Get another large pot of water ready -- this is what you will can the grape leaves in. Remember you will need something to keep the bottom of the pint jars up off the bottom of the pot. I use a vegetable steamer, but a bunch of canning lids (the rings, not the gaskets) works well as a platform, too. Get a large bowl of ice water ready.

Boil the grape leaves for 30 to 60 seconds (see note about older leaves above), then plunge into the ice water to cool. Drain them once the leaves are all cool.

Take about six grape leaves at a time and roll them up into a cigar from the side -- not the top or bottom. You will need to fold over the leaf end to fit into the pint jars. Pack the grape leaves into the jar, making sure you have about 1 inch of head space at the top.

Sprinkle the lemon juice or citric acid into each pint jar. Bring the water you used to cook the grape leaves back to a boil and ladle it into the jars. Make sure the grape leaves are covered with the brine. Wipe the edge of the pint jar with a clean towel and seal the jar. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.

There are lots of variables going on with this seemingly simple sauce, so don't freak out if it doesn't taste exactly like Tabasco. It'll still be great. Your chiles will affect the flavor, as will where they were grown. So will your salt -- don't use iodized salt, it will muddy the flavor -- and your vinegar. Tabasco's private stock is made with white wine vinegar, and it is noticeably better tasting than the stuff you buy in the store. Use a good vinegar. And you really need the toasted oak cubes to get the full Tabasco effect. They store their mash in oak barrels, and unless you are making that much sauce, the oak cubes are the way to go. You can buy them at any winemaking shop or online. Try to let the mash ferment as long as you can. Every month you let it go makes it better. Finally, this recipe can be scaled up or down. Just remember, the key ratio is 2 percent salt by weight of the chopped-up chiles.

Fermented, Tabasco-Style Hot Sauce

chile peppers, (about 1.5 kilos)

kosher salt, (about 37 grams)

oak cubes

white wine vinegar

xanthan gum ((optional))

Roughly chop the chiles and compost the stems. Blitz the chiles in a food processor or blender with the salt and water until you get a rough paste or slurry, depending on how much moisture there is in the peppers themselves. I keep the seeds in the chiles, but if you want a milder sauce, remove them.

Put the mash into quart mason jars and cap them loosely. "Burp" the caps at least once a day to let out escaping gases and let air in. The chiles will ferment like this for at least a week, and sometimes up to 3 weeks. When the chiles settle down, add the oak cubes, distributing them evenly throughout the jars. Tighten the lids and store the jars in a cool, dark place. I kept mine in my salami fridge, which is 55°F. A basement is fine, as would a fridge. Tabasco keeps their mash barrels at ambient temperatures, which in Louisiana can top 100°F. I am working on a batch fermented this way now, and I see no reason it won't work. Don't let the mash freeze, however.

Keep the mash like this no less than 3 months, and up to 2 years. When you are ready to finish the sauce, mix the mash with the vinegar.

You now have two choices: You can do what Tabasco does and return the mix to the jars, shake them every day for a month and then strain out the pulp and seeds. Or, do what I do and keep all that pulp, which will give the sauce body and thickness. If you choose my method, you will need to really blend the sauce and stabilize it -- otherwise the sauce will eventually separate and will need to be shaken up before each use. To do so, dissolve the xanthan gum in 2 tablespoons of water and add it to the blender. Blend for a solid minute. Let the sauce rest for 1 hour before bottling so any trapped air in sauce (from the blending process) can escape. Bottle and store. The sauce will keep for a year or more.

A classic recipe for Swedish pickled herring called glasmastarsill, or glassblower's herring. Herring, sardines, smelt or whitefish can all be pickled this way

Swedish Pickled Herring

water, (divided)

herring fillets

wine vinegar

sugar

mustard seed

allspice

black peppercorns

bay leaves

cloves

lemon, (thinly sliced)

red onion (thinly sliced)

Heat 4 cups of water enough to dissolve salt. Let this brine cool to room temperature. When it does, submerge the herring fillets in the brine and refrigerate overnight, or up to 24 hours. Meanwhile, bring the sugar, vinegar, the remaining cup of water and all the spices to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let this steep until cool.

When the herring have brined, layer them in a glass jar with the sliced lemon and red onion. Divide the spices between your containers if you are using more than one. Pour over the cooled pickling liquid and seal the jars. Wait at least a day before eating. Store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Making caviar at home is not nearly so hard as you might think. It is a miraculous product, beautiful as jewels with a briny pop that adds color and texture to all sorts of dishes. And freshly made caviar will last 10 days in the fridge, too -- if you keep it in a tightly sealed (preferably glass) container sunk into a larger container of ice. Keep replenishing the ice as it melts.

How to Make Caviar

full skein of steelhead, trout or salmon roe

Mix the salt and 1 quart ice-cold water until the salt is all dissolved.

Make sure the roe skeins are split, so you have an opening that the eggs can come out. Set up a cooling rack or something else with a wide mesh (chicken wire works, too) over a bowl. Take a roe skein and, with the membrane facing up work the eggs out through the rack. Perfectly ripe eggs will come off easily, unripe ones will require some force. Either way, you will pop some eggs in the process.

ALTERNATE METHOD: Get the faucet running with warm water roughly 105°F to 115°F, or heat cool tap water to this temperature -- some people fear that hot tap water can add harsh minerals to their food. Either way works. Fill a metal or glass bowl with the warm water. Dunk a few skeins of roe at a time in the warm water. Gently massage the eggs out of the skeins with your fingers under the surface of the warm water. They will float away and sink. Discard the skeins.

Have a fine-meshed sieve ready. Pour the strained eggs into the strainer to rinse them well with cold water. Pick out clumps or stray bits of membrane.

Dunk the eggs in the brine for 5 minutes. Taste them and if they are salty enough for you, drain them again. You can brine for up to 30 minutes, but they will be very salty. My preferred brine time is 10 minutes. Spoon carefully into a clean glass jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, but try to eat them within a week or they will start to get fishy.

I use this recipe every chance I get - at least once or twice a year for the last ten years, and sometimes much (much) more. Chinook eggs most of the time, this year mostly Coho. Always a winner, thanks Hank!

While living in Northern Minnesota I took ready advantage of the states non- commercial whitefish netting program. During those years through the month of November all I ate for breakfast and lunch was caviar, like a hundred bucks a day worth.  It got to the point I started wondering how it was affecting my cholesterol levels.  Good cholesterol right?? RIGHT?!!  I was aware that all recipes for preparing caviars involved brining but my attempts, because i didnt know what i was doing and whitefish eggs are soooo amazing, were never as good as unsalted. Just thoroughly cleaned and rested in the fridge overnight (why does the flavor improve so much with resting?).  

Now however its Coho season in the Northwest and Ive got a pile of Eggs in the refrigerator waiting for me and after my initial run of the no salt version as before (They are pretty good) I am interested in trying the brining method again to compliment the much stronger flavor.  

Thank you so much Hank Shaw for the website and recipes.  I was very much feeling an outsider and freak , despite knowing i was in the right and the rest of my countrymen "just didn't know", for my constant proselytizing of all things Delicious.  Your site has given me a renewed energy to keep up the good fight.

I just made this last night with some steelhead roe from a fish I caught yesterday.  It turned out great.  I bought some salmon roe caviar from the store to compare my home made stuff to and I preferred the batch I made following this recipe.  

I have made many of Hank Shaw's recipes.  As a hunter and angler I appreciate his creativity.

I've made this numerous times with all kinds of salmon and a few varieties of trout. The instructions are clear and the recipe is flexible. Hard to mess these up!

I just made a batch of caviar from red salmon Roe using your recipe. It is fantastic! I used a steel veggie steamer screen to push the eggs through. It was easy. Thanks for your method! I will be using it from now on.

Top 7 pickled foods recipes from across the web

The most viewed pickled foods recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Pickled Mustard Greens, Chinese Sty...

Basic Ceviche

Fennel Sauerkraut

Preserved Grape Leaves

Fermented, Tabasco-Style Hot Sauce

Swedish Pickled Herring

How to Make Caviar

Top 7 pickled foods recipes from across the web

The most viewed pickled foods recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Pickled Mustard Greens, Chinese Sty...

Basic Ceviche

Fennel Sauerkraut

Preserved Grape Leaves

Fermented, Tabasco-Style Hot Sauce

Swedish Pickled Herring

How to Make Caviar

The most viewed pickled foods recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine