Green chili pepper pickles

This is one of my most favorite kinds of jangajji (Korean pickles). It’s made with green chili peppers and tastes salty, sour, spicy, and a little sweet. It’s very crispy and crunchy. Biting into a pickled pepper with a spoonful of warm rice and having the salty brine splash out with a snappy crunch is just irresistible for me. In general, chili peppers hold a special place in Korean cuisine and are loved by pretty much everybody. We use them in many many dishes.

These days, between summer and autumn, green chili peppers are in season. Peppers are cheap, plentiful, and at their peak, so I buy lots of them and make lots of pickles. I eat them with almost every meal!

I remember watching my grandmother make green chili pepper pickles when I was a kid. She made a few kinds: chili peppers pickled in a soy sauce brine, chili peppers pickled in a fish sauce brine, and also chili peppers pickled by pushing them deep into her crock full of homemade doenjang. I can still remember the taste of rice with my grandmother’s pickles.

This version I’m showing you today is one of the least salty varieties of gochu-jangajji that I know. I plan on posting more chili pepper pickle recipes over time, because they are so delicious and a good thing to have in the fridge when you want to put together a quick, tasty meal or even just a spicy snack.

Ingredients

• 1 pound green chili peppers, washed and dried
• 3½ cups water
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• ¼ cup white vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Also get some pebbles, clean and dry them, and put them into a plastic bag.

Directions

1. Cut the stems the peppers, leaving a ½ inch on the top
2. Make a hole with a toothpick or fork on each pepper, just under the stem. These holes will allow the brine to seep into the pepper.
3. Put the peppers into a glass jar that can hold at least 8 cups.
4. Combine the water, soy sauce, kosher salt, vinegar, and the sugar in a pot. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Cover and bring to a boil over medium high heat. When the brine boils and bubbles vigorously on the surface, pour it into the jar of green chili peppers.
5. Keep the peppers submerged in the brine by weighing them down with your bag of pebbles (or anything else handy).
6. Cover and let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
7. 24 hours later open the jar, take out the pebbles, and pour the brine out of the jar into a pot.
8. Boil the brine vigorously for about 15 minutes.
9. Remove from the heat and let cool thoroughly. If you want it to cool faster, place the pot into a bath of ice water but be sure not to splash cold water into the brine.
10. Pour the cool brine back into the jar. Cover and refrigerate for 1 week or more before eating.

Three different ways to eat gochu-jangajji:

1. As a simple side dish with rice.

This is the easiest way to enjoy them. Simply put some peppers and brine in a shallow bowl, sprinkle some sesame seeds over top, and serve with rice. You can add more side dishes if you want.

2. Mixed with seasonings.

• 1 pound  pickled green chili peppers
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup hot pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice syrup
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Combine garlic, hot pepper flakes, soy sauce, rice syrup, olive oil, and toasted sesame oil in a bowl. Mix well with a spoon. Add the pickled peppers to the seasoning mixture. Mix well by hand. Sprinkle sesame seeds over top and serve it right away as a side dish for rice, or refrigerate it for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

3. Make bibimbap (aka mixed rice).

Chop 2 pickled peppers into small pieces and put them into a bowl. Add 1 minced garlic clove, 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice syrup, 1 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. Mix well.

Roast a sheet of gim (seaweed paper) both sides very crispy.

Put a serving of warm rice into a large wide-mouth bowl. Add some or all of the chopped and seasoned mixture, crush the roasted gim and add it too. Mix well with a spoon and eat. You can add extra sesame oil, too.