Spice Pickling Liquid

Spice Pickling Liquid

By Kwame Onwuache

Pickling is an act of food preservation and also, thankfully for us, adds an entire dimension of bright angular flavors. This pickling liquid includes a touch of spice but is largely neutral, allowing the flavors of the pickled vegetables to emerge. Play around as you like. Garlic goes well, ditto allspice, cloves, and bayleaf.

Yield
3 cups

Ingredients

  • 1¾ cups white wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup granulated white sugar
  • 3 tbsp + 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 12 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 4 tsp whole coriander seeds
  • ½ habanero pepper, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped
  • 2 thin slices ginger, about 2-3 inches long
  • 2 cups water

Method

  1. Place all the ingredients into a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as it comes to a boil, remove it from the heat. Let cool completely, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve and transfer to a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid.

Notes

Spice pickling liquid will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Recipe from My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi with Joshua David Stein. Copyright © 2022 by Kwame Onwuachi. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.