Nyonya Vegetable Pickle
Introduction
When it comes to Malaysian pickles, I must say that the Nyonya kind are the best, partly due to the richness of the range of ingredients used. There is a good balance of vinegar and spiciness, and an array of beautiful textures and crunchiness from the vegetables and peanuts. You can keep this for up to 4 weeks in the fridge, but the longer you keep it, the more the vegetables will lose their crispness. Eat it as a condiment with rice.
Ingredients
| 3 tbsp | vegetable oil |
| 100g | white sugar |
| 1 1/2 tsp | fine sea salt |
| 150ml | rice vinegar |
| 100g | pineapple, cut into 2cm thick wedges |
| 150g | peanuts, roasted and coarsely pounded |
| 4 tbsp | sesame seeds (ideally 1 tbsp black and 3 tbsp white), roasted |
| 2 tbsp | coriander seeds, roasted |
| For the spice paste: | |
| 1 | stalk lemongrass (use the bottom part only) |
| 10 | dried chillies, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes |
| 3 | shallots |
| 4 | cloves of garlic |
| 2.5cm | fresh turmeric |
| 2.5cm | fresh galangal (or ginger) |
| 4 | macadamia nuts |
| 1 1/2 tsp | shrimp paste, dry-toasted |
| For the blanching: | |
| 200ml | vinegar |
| 2 tbsp | white sugar |
| 1 tsp | fine sea salt |
| For the vegetables: | |
| 250g | purple aubergines, cut into 5cm strips |
| 300g | white cabbage, cut into 2cm wide pieces |
| 100g | cauliflower, cut into small florets |
| 100g | carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm strips |
| 100g | fine green beans, cut into 5cm pieces |
| 6 | bird's-eye chillies |
| 500g | cucumber, peeled, deseeded and cut into 5cm long strips |
Essential kit
You will need a food processor.
Instructions
1. Blitz the spice paste ingredients in a food processor. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and saute the spice paste for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the sugar and salt and cook for 1 minute, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the vinegar and give it a good mix, then turn the heat off and set aside.
2. To blanch the vegetables, bring 600ml of water to the boil in a saucepan and add the vinegar, sugar and salt. Add the vegetables (apart from the cucumber - don't blanch this, as it will lose its crunchiness) and blanch for 10 seconds, until slightly wilted. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
3. Put the spice paste, the vegetables including the cucumber, the pineapple, peanuts, and sesame and coriander seeds in a glass bowl. Mix thoroughly, then transfer into a glass jar and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
