Sichuans Naturally Fermented Pickles Pao Cai Recipes

SICHUAN'S NATURALLY FERMENTED PICKLES (PAO CAI)

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil and remove from heat. Add salt and sugar and stir to dissolve. Let cool to room temperature, and add liquor. You can refrigerate to speed up the process. Taste the brine to make sure the taste is pleasing to you and adjust accordingly.
• Wash vegetables and cut them into large bite-size pieces. Larger pieces are best for a Chinese pickling jar, so that they are caught under the jar's "shoulders" and held beneath the brine-though they have to be small enough to retrieve through the narrow neck of the jar. Dry the vegetables well and add to your clean, dry pickle jar, along with the ginger and Sichuan peppercorns (if using).
• Add brine to the jar almost to the top, being careful to put larger vegetables on top and tuck them under the jar's shoulders. It's ok if a few float to the top; if you have the right brine concentration and keep most veg under the brine, you should not have to weigh them down. Top off brine, replace lid and add water to the moat. (If using a Weck jar, use only the clips and not the rubber seal; if using a Mason jar, just screw lid on loosely, allowing an escape route for the gases.) Refrigerate any extra brine.
• Store the jar in a cool, dark place such as a pantry or cupboard to ferment. It's important to not let the moat go dry. Add water every few days as it evaporates to keep moat about half-way full. Sample the vegetables every day or two to check their sourness. Use clean chopsticks or long-handled spoon to remove vegetables, as your hands can contaminate the ferment. Top off brine if it is not above the vegetables. Cabbage can take as little as 1 day, while green beans and other vegetables take 5 to 7 days or longer, depending on the size of the vegetables, the room temperature and the desired sourness. Expect the vegetables to lose their bright colors as they ferment, but not their crunch or taste!
• When the brine begins to bubble, turns cloudy and takes on the color of the vegetables in it, then you know that fermentation has started. If using a larger jar or pickle crock, monitor it for the white yeast film that can occur naturally on the surface in lacto-fermentation and remove any that occurs. As you use the pickles, replenish the crock with more salt water, liquor, seasonings and vegetables. Reuse the brine for as long as it tastes fresh and pleasing and not rotty. Sichuan picklers can keep a brine going for years!