A Little Radish and Carrot Salad: Pickled, but Not Pickled

When you’ve got chile oil, and i’m going to have to figure out what to do, have you scroll down? or move the recipe right here where it will be more usesful, anyhow, when you have that wonderful delicous full of tantalizingly tongue-numbing Szechuan peppercorns, crushed preserved black beans, spices and oils: this chile oil that gives such utterly delicious taste to so many things…..when you’ve got chile oil: you can look around your kitchen or your garden, and think: what am i going to brighten up: a salad? a stir-dry? braised meat or a steamed fish?

Yesterday as I looked at my radishes and carrots, I was thinking: a light little pickle Vietnamese style of always great, but I’ve been doing that alot lately using the traditional daikon. My new radishes were small round red ones. And also: I was tired of shredded, julienning and spiralizing (truth in advertising: i seem to have misplaced my spiralizer, so until i do….), I thought: why not cut the radishes and carrots into coin, and instead of just doing sweet-salt-vinegar, why not throw some multi-faceted chile oil at it and see what happens.

The result: Oh God Good!

I’ve kept the recipe loose, and you’ll have to taste as you go along. The ingredients just need to be treated that way. For one thing: you might like chile oil more (though unlikely) or less (very possible) than I do. Or you might like your pickley vegetable salad sweeter, or less so. you might like to just make a big double or triple batch and keep them for up to two weeks letting them pickle one day at a time.

Radish and Chile Coins in Szechuan Dressing
Serves 2 as part of a starter, or if it is a side pickle-condiment-course, serves at 4-ish
1 medium large carrot, peeled and cut into thin coins
1 or 2 bunches radishes, cut into thin coins
1 clove garlic, chopped
1-2 tablespoons white wine or rice wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons water
About 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon or more to taste, salt
About 2 tablespoons chile oil plus a bit of the solids at the bottom of the jar
1/2 teaspoon toasted lightly crushed Szechuan peppercorns, OR 1 teaspoon mixture ordinary peppercorns, sea salt, and Szechuan peppercorns, roasted together, and light crushed.

Mix it all together, Let sit about an hour before you serve. The radishes will turn a bit pink and soften slightly, as well the carrots, as they do in the photo that I snapped, above. But they are so delicious you might have a hard time stopping once you start. Noshing that is. We had a little bit last night with dinner, and then I finished them for breakfast.

I confess: with Matzo brei if you must know.

Tomorrow: we’re making cucumber salad. With the chile oil. I have a feeling I’ll want leftovers of this for breakfast too!