Quick Salt Pickles

I hear it all the time. You meant to make pickles when pickling cukes were in season in September, but you never got around to it.

Never fear....Quick Salt Pickles are here!

And for those of you who are both procrastinators (people who "never got around to making dill pickles") and impatient ("even quick fridge pickles take too long") these snappy pickles are ready-to-eat mere minutes after making them. I first read David Chang's recipe in his stunning cookbook, which is based on his New York City restaurant of the same name "Momofuku".

 Pickling cukes are only in season in late summer/early fall in the Pacific Northwest, so I bought Persian Cucumbers at Trader Joe's.

For this recipe I cut the cucumbers into very thin 1/8" slices. 

I love my pretty pink Pure Komachi 2 knife , which was a thoughtful hostess gift from my step-mom during the holidays.

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For 2 cups of Quick Salt Pickles you need:

2 Kirby or Persian (mini-seedless) cucumbers

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt 

Gently stir these 3 ingredients together in a bowl, and let them rest on the counter for 5-10 minutes.

You can serve them right away, or keep them in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours. David Chang suggests that if the pickles are too sweet or too salty, to rinse them, dry them in a kitchen towel, and add more sugar or salt as needed.

I've never done the "rinse & re-season" thing. I happen to think they're perfect even if each batch tastes a little different than the one before; especially if you sprinkle crumbled Trader Joe's Roasted Seaweed Snack  across the top of the Quick Salt Pickles before serving!

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