Spicy Blackened Sichuan Pickled Peppers

2 min read

It’s a snack food, it’s a condiment, it’s an ingredient, it’s a floor wax. Okay, one of these statements is false—but I’m not telling which. Ha! What I will say is that these puckery peppers are not for the faint of heart. Heat and tang are going to gang up on you and fight it out on your tongue. Factor in the unexpected herbaceous, floral kick of Sichuan peppercorns and gin, though, and the brawl becomes a party. Eat these alone, stir-fry them with beef, or slice them up and use them as a topping on anything from tacos to omelets. I double dog dare you to stick one in a Bloody Mary. In short, you have been warned: these are habit-forming.

Makes about 2¾ cups

TIME: 3 DAYS

11 ounces fresh Fresno chiles

1 teaspoon peanut oil

½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 cup water 3 thin slices fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tablespoon plus

2 teaspoons sugar

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

⅓ cup good-quality Shaoxing wine or gin

Wash the peppers and trim off the tail ends of the stems (leaving the peppers whole). Use a toothpick to stab about 6 tiny holes around the stem end of the fruit. In a Dutch oven (or any heavy-bottomed pot large enough to hold all of the peppers in a single layer), heat the oil over high heat. Add the peppers in a single layer and let them sear for about 4 minutes until they are blackened in spots. Flip the peppers and blacken the other side, about another 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the peppercorns to the pot, and stir them in with the chile peppers. They should become fragrant after 3 minutes. To the pot, add the vinegar, water, ginger, garlic, sugar, and salt and stir to combine. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes to let the peppers soften. Turn off the heat. When the bubbling subsides, add the wine or gin and stir. Let sit until everything is cool enough to handle, then transfer the peppers and their brine into clean jars with tight lids. Leave on the kitchen counter for 24 hours before refrigerating; eat after 3 days. Kept cold, this pickle will last at least a month.