Pickled Vegetables         酸 菜

Everyone loves an appetizer especially one that increases the appetite. This makes the palette yarning for more foods. Pickled vegetables are the perfect appetizer. The sugary, sour taste makes you want to eat more. Sometimes I just cannot stop eating it. It is best to make a litre worth and store in fridge. The best results are when it has been soaked overnight or throughout the week as the vegetables intensifies. Absolutely delicious!

Make:  1 litre preservation glass jar worth of pickles
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Cooling time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 litre glass jar with lid
500 ml rice vinegar
200 ml water
200 grams white sugar
50 grams beansprouts
2 carrots
1 cucumber
1 red onion
1-2 Thai red chilies
1 teaspoon salt

Method

• Peel carrots, cut into 2 inch lengths then slice into 1 cm width, place on a plate and set aside. Cut cucumber length ways, remove seeds with a small spoon, cut into same lengths and width as the carrots, place on same plate. Wash, drain beansprouts, set aside on plate.  Peel and finely slice red onions. Cut, remove seeds from chili and finely cut into wafer thin shreds. Set aside.

• Add rice vinegar, water, salt, sugar to a medium pot on medium heat, simmer and stir till all the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, turn heat off and allow the liquid to cool for 30 minutes.

• Mix all the vegetables together and place into glass jar. Pour cooled preservation liquid into jar, lid on and store in fridge overnight before consuming.