These quick pickles need to sit in vinegar for only a couple of hours before you can eat them. They're great with fried food, since the vinegar acts as a sort of palate cleanser. But the ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and sambal oelek – a prepared red chilli paste that is readily available at most Asian groceries – make them different from the standard cucumber pickle.
450g cucumbers, halved lengthways and cut on the diagonal into 3mm-thick slices
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp sea salt
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
1-2 fresh Thai chillies, seeded and finely sliced
960ml rice vinegar
250g sugar
1½ tsp sambal chilli paste
120ml toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
10g whole dried red chillies, such as árbol
In a bowl, toss together the cucumber slices and 1 tsp of the salt. Transfer the cucumbers to a colander and let them drain in the sink for 2 hours.
Rinse the cucumbers briefly under cold running water and drain well. Transfer to a bowl, add the ginger and fresh Thai chillies, and toss to mix. In a separate bowl, stir together the vinegar, sugar, sambal and the remaining 2 tbsp salt until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Set aside.
In a small frying pan, heat the sesame oil over a medium heat. Add the Sichuan peppercorns and toast for 10 seconds. Add the dried chillies and toast for another 10 seconds, until the chillies darken slightly.
Pour the contents of the frying pan over the cucumbers, then add the vinegar solution and toss well. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate. The pickles are ready to eat in 2 hours. They will keep, refrigerated, for up to a week.
• This recipe is extracted from Vietnamese Home Cooking by Charles Phan.
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