Quick Pickled Cucumber

Sometimes you just can't wait the few days or weeks that it takes for a cucumber to "mature" in flavor or ferment itself into deliciousness. That is why quick pickles are so great and simple to make! This recipe was adapted from the "Momofuku" cookbook's vinegar pickles.

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar (plus or minus a tablespoon or two to taste)

4 tablespoons of sugar (more if you like it sweeter)

2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

Vegetable of choice (I did it with a Persian cucumber we had in the fridge)

I like to heat all the ingredients minus the vegetable(s) on the stove until the salt and sugar dissolve, but today I just added hot water from a kettle to all the other ingredients (Momofuku calls for hot tap water, but I like my method better). Then you just pour over the vegetable(s). These were eaten right away, but they get even better in the fridge after each day and keep for about a week. You could use cucumbers, cauliflower, beets, carrots, daikon, fennel, ect. Momofuku even suggests cherries or watermelon/cantaloupe/watermelon rind!