| Esquire’s Eat Like a Man | Chronicle, 2011 | Servings vary
Eat your vegetables.
Funny how three words can seem such an eye-rolling chore—both in the cooking and the occasional coercing required of self or others to get them down the hatch. Thankfully, David Chang understands this. The potty-mouthed, pork-crazed, much-ballyhooed chef of Momofuku fame has something of a penchant for quick pickles. And we do mean quick. This rendition of pickled ramps takes just five minutes to toss together (honest), doesn’t require canning (hurrah), and is likely to disappear just as quickly as it came together (here’s the voice of experience).
Chang relies on these as a revelatory garnish to eggs sunnyside up, though we find the slightly tart ramps equally impressive slipped onto burgers, draped atop pulled pork sandwiches, or just cozied up alongside a proper roast chicken or steak and potatoes. As for the 48 or so weeks out of the year when ramps aren’t in season, the technique works equally well with look-alike scallions. —Renee Schettler Rossi
LC The Spice is Right Note: Chang’s pickled ramps recipe, a riff on Asian-style quick pickles, is simple enough, ensuring the essence of the object to be pickled—in this case, those pungent wild leeks known as ramps—remains unsullied. However, he does add just a pinch of Shichimi tōgarashi, sometimes known as nanami tōgarashi. A mashup of orange peel, black, white and toasted sesame seeds, cayenne, ginger, Szechuan pepper and nori, it has no substitute. If it’s beyond your means, consider simply doing without. Chang probably wouldn’t consider it optional, though we’ll look the other way.
Active time: 5 minutes Total time: 5 minutes (not including cooling or chilling)
Pickled Ramps Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ramps or scallions, preferably slender ones
- 1 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch Japanese seven-spice (optional; see LC The Spice is Right Note above)
Directions
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1. To make the pickled ramps, trim the root ends of the vegetables. If the greens are wilted or so large as to be unwieldy, trim them where they meet the white bulbous portion. Place the ramps or scallions in a bowl.
2. Bring the remaining ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the mixture over the ramps or scallions and let cool to room temperature.
3. Tuck the ramps or scallions in a jar or several jars, swirling the greens around the inside, and add enough liquid to cover. Screw on the lid(s) and refrigerate for no more than a week. The pickle flavor will become more prominent as the days go by.
- Pickled Ramps with Saffron from Hunter Angler Gardner Cook
- Wild Ramp Lemon Risotto from DOC from The Kitchn
- Orecchiette with Morel Mushrooms and Ramps from Leite’s Culinaria
- Gougères with Arugula, Bacon, and Pickled Onions from Leite’s Culinaria
Pickled ramps recipe © 2011 Ryan D’Agostino. Photo © 2009 cafemama. All rights reserved.
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[Kristin Cole] This was a new foray into what I thought was the daunting world of pickling. Turns out, it’s super easy, and yields great results. I happened to have seasoned rice vinegar at home, so I omitted half of the sugar. I wasn’t quite sure how to trim the ramps, so I cut them into pieces about 3 inches long— I guess I could’ve left them whole, too. I’ve been sampling my pickled goods every day for a week now, and boy, do they get better with age! They’re delicious on their own as a crunchy snack, or mixed into Japanese rice dishes. I’ve also snuck them into salads for a crisp, acidic element.
Love the recipe! A friend of mine throws in a few small garlic cloves and a couple of hot Thai peppers for some extra zing.
Are the garlic cloves, in the bottle to the right, pickled the same way?
My guess is yes, LCD, although I’m not certain. I’m inquiring, but in the meantime, bear in mind that the beauty of a simple pickle recipe such as this is the ease with which it can be tweaked, whether you wish to lend it a slight kick from hot pepper or the warmth of mustard seeds or any combination of pickling spice…
Not sure I’ve ever heard of or seen ramps before (that I can recall anyway). Sounds like they’d be delicious, though, since I do love scallions and pickles, as well as putting as many toppings on my burgers and sandwiches as possible. Never actually pickled anything in recipe contests in the past before either. Thanks for sharing – will have to try this soon!
Our pleasure, Chelsey. Let us know when you try it!