MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS
Red cherry peppers are a small sweet pepper about the size and shape of a fat child’s thumb. They are wonderful when pickled and make a pretty addition to a plate. Red bell pepper squares could also be pickled in this fashion, and if you are a glutton for fire, you could try small spicy peppers as well.
Best made a day or two ahead to give the flavors a chance to penetrate, this pickle will hold for up to two weeks refrigerated.
1 pound firm, unblemished red cherry peppers, stems intact
1½ cups unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar
⅔ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
3 large cloves garlic, slivered
1 small thin stalk fresh lemongrass, cut into finger lengths and smashed
2 small green or red serrano chilis, cut into paper-thin rings (optional)
It is imperative when working with highly acidic ingredients like vinegar that you do not use aluminum-coated pots or implements. There may be a heat-conducting filling of aluminum in between a different metal sandwich, but the direct contact of aluminum and acid is off limits, as it will give you a bitter taste and a black pot. Even with modest amounts of acidic ingredients like ginger and lemongrass, I steadfastly avoid cooking on or with something surfaced with aluminum.
This fact was brought home to me in one of my more dramatic early cooking escapades, when I cooked up a Moroccan stew called “Al Harumbah” in one of my Grandma Millie’s stockpots. I was to take it to an international folk dance pot-luck supper (hence the culinary excursion to the Middle East) and had worked on it for hours. The tomatoes in “Al,” as I later came to call the mess, were so foul when cooked in aluminum that I can taste them still, almost 20 years later. Folk dancers’ stomachs are notoriously strong, but “Al” would have felled an ox.
1. Rinse the peppers under cold running water and drain.
2. Combine the peppers, vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, garlic, lemongrass, and chili rings in a non-aluminum heavy saucepan. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and refrigerate, uncovered, until cool. Then, for best flavor, seal airtight and refrigerate a day or more before serving. Serve whole, garnished with a sliver of the pickled garlic or a ring or two of chili.
MENU SUGGESTIONS: These are a great garnish for cold noodle dishes if you’re looking for a Chinese mate, or they would be equally happy teamed with a burger or a plate of cold cuts.