Showing posts with label japanese pickles recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japanese pickles recipe. Show all posts

Friday, July 15, 2011

Sweet Local Visit: Regal Pickle Worcester, MA


There comes a time in everyone's life when you have the best damn pickle ever.  It's so tasty you want to shout it from the rooftops. The perfect amount of salt, mixed with just the right crunch, and the lingering of that fresh cucumber taste before it was shocked in brine. Mmmm. Here's my shout...

In my home city we have a hidden gem called Regal Pickle. If you've been to a deli in the Northeastern region of the U.S. you have most likely had one of these briney treats. Lot's of people say they make their own at restaurants and deli's but in reality it is Worcester's own Regal Pickle. Tucked away in an unassuming old building lives the pickle factory which has been making pickles since 1979. They are the largest pickle processor in the Northeast. 


I have to say the building looks like it's home to some of Worcester's mafia but- it was perfectly fine during the factory's retail hours of 6:30AM to 3:15PM. 




Here's how it works: You walk in, you ring the buzzer, you tell the man behind the counter what you want and he brings it in a little white pail. Simple. A gallon of pickles will cost you $7.50. Yup, you read that right. Seven dollars and fifty cents. If you come back with the pail the next gallon will cost $6.50. I prefer their half sour pickles but they also carry kosher pickles, pickled tomatoes and sauerkraut.


If you aren't a Worcesterite but are traveling through I highly recommend you making a quick trip into the city for an amazing pickle. It must be good if I'm writing about it on a Friday night.... Please do visit them, they are located on 41 Mason Street Worcester, MA 01610. 









Sunday, July 10, 2011

Sweet Makes: Japanese Daikon Radish Pickles

I have been having some serious cravings lately. One of them was one I hadn't had in probably 15 years: Japanese Daikon Radish Pickles! They have a very peculiar additive taste that cannot be matched by any ordinary pickle. When I was a little girl, we traveled to Seoul, Korea to visit my stepfather's family and we had these pickles upon arrival. ( and of course kimchi, YUM!) I was amazed at the sweet, salty, and crunchy taste these exotic little unassuming pickles held.

If you are headed to a BBQ or picnic make a batch of these and people will think you are the missing talented spawn of Martha Stewart or that you've been reading Saveur for years. Amazingly enough, they are super simple ( and CHEAP! ) to make....



Japanese Daikon Radish Pickles 

*Now where do you find these lovely radishes? Local natural food store or an asian market. You may have to ask. Look for ones that are completely white in color and are firm and not rubbery. They run around $2 a pound.

2  Large Daikon Radishes
1 Cup Rice Wine vinegar ( plain)
2 TBSP Sesame seeds
2 heaping TBSP white Sugar
optional: Feel free to infuse any citrus or herbs in as well, I enjoy mine plain)

Wash and peel the skin from your radishes with a potato peeler. Slice thinly into rounds or sticks. Pile them into a big mason jar and prepare your pickling juice in a separate bowl. Whisk well and then pour into the jar. Be sure to allow your pickles to sit in the mixture for at least 24 hours. Turn the pickle jar upside-down frequently to allow all the pickles to steep.  Pickles can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Serve with sandwiches, rice, or eat right out of the jar!