While reviewing past recipes and the write-up before the recipes, I’ve realized that my blog entries follow a very sad outline:

1. Kris used to think ________ was icky! What a travesty.
2. (soul-searching paragraph)
3. And now she doesn’t. Yay ________!

Today, we are tackling pickles–which I also disliked for a long time. But since I seem to have disliked everything when I was growing up (ha), I’m going to skip over that fact and talk about how amazing Korean food is instead!

My first and dearest experience with Korean food was at a little joint called San Chang in Colorado Springs when I moved there in 1999. I had tried “Korean” food before at Pan-Asian restaurants around Delaware as a child, but not like San Chang. What were these funny grills doing in the middle of the table? Why were there so many vents? And why were there so many versions of pickled vegetables in tiny plates?

It wasn’t until I befriended Korean-American classmates at college that I learned the magical name of these vegetable dishes–banchan. But I loved banchan from the start, and often stuffed myself on it before the main course arrived at the table. My favorite banchan involved radishes in various forms: julienned, cubed, sliced, and so on, pickled in so many delicious ways. I loved the cool, crisp crunch of the radish and the subsequent explosion of pickling juice that would follow with each bite. They were a sharp, effective palate cleanser to the salty savoriness of galbi or the sweetness of bulgogi. Ever since that first magical visit, I’ve been a fan of Korean food and flavors… and most importantly, pickles!

James linked this pickled radish & jalapeno recipe to me while I was in the Philippines, so I gave it a go when I came back to LA and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make. I tweaked the ratio of sugar and jalapenos because we prefer our pickles a little spicier and less sweet, but feel free to play with the ratio according to your preferences. I also chopped the radish rather coarsely because we are radish fiends–but you can make smaller slices if you wish, especially if you’re using the pickling juice as a sauce for meat. Either way, I hope you give this very simple recipe a try–whether you’re a banchan fan like me or looking to spice up the condiments at your dinner table. You won’t be disappointed!

Recipe adapted from Top Chef Korea.

I think that being able to bake and cook for your own self is very liberating. You are no longer restricted by the nearby restaurants or the frozen food in the grocery store—the world of cuisine is your figurative oyster. This ‘romanticism’ of cooking is probably why I jump into multiple kinds of ethnic foods and genres of cuisine. But being self-sufficient in the kitchen also serves another purpose: it allows you to make a lot of the staple foods from scratch, which are almost always easier to make than you think (and tastier than the store versions).

Pickles easily qualify for both categories and more—they are extremely easy to make and more delicious when freshly made. There are no preservatives floating around in your jar with those crunchy slices. And best of all—when you take the jar out of the fridge and present it as a side dish at a meal, you can mention that you made the pickles yourself. In this day and age, your guests will be impressed. You can comment on how it’s nothing praiseworthy, and that anyone can do it. And you wouldn’t be lying for the sake of humility, either. It really is that easy.

The most important part of making pickles is patience. In order to ensure that signature crunch in every pickle slice, a large amount of the water content in the cucumbers needs to be pulled out of each slice before you combine the cucumbers with the pickling juice. The initial recipe I used mentioned that you needed to check the cucumbers every once in a while and mix them to ensure a maximum amount of crunch, but I left them undisturbed in the fridge for a few hours and still had successful results. Also, the recipe was for canning the pickles—I simply reused a jar of spaghetti sauce that has an air-tight lid. If you don’t have a jar, Tupperware will still do the job of keeping your pickles crispy. (It just won’t look as pretty or old-fashioned.)

Lastly, the amount of red pepper flakes in the recipe is up to you and your taste buds. The original recipe only called for ¼ teaspoon of the stuff, which is way too mild for James and me. For those of you that are squeamish about heat, then go with ¼ teaspoon—it’s a harmless amount, but still gives enough of a kick to balance out the sweetness of the pickles.

Go forth, my friends, and pickle!

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living.