Soy Pickled Peppers (고추 장아찌) & Spicy Soy Sauce

It's one of the simplest things I make that comes useful in so many ways. In its laziest version, I've chopped up a package of jalapeno peppers while I boiled up a good amount of soy sauce and rice vinegar. Pour the hot soy sauce liquid over the peppers, let it steep to room temperature then store in the refrigerator. It keeps for weeks, only because I'd finish them. I haven't seen them go bad yet in the years of making this pickled peppers. I've made this for years, and in fact, it was one of the first posts I did when I started this blog.

Or you can gather a few more aromatic vegetables such as onion, garlic, carrot, ginger, etc. with a few spices in the pantry like whole peppercorns and a bay leaf or two. In my case, dried shitake mushrooms and dried kelp have their own seat assignments next to spices, so they go in there too. I always seem to have this in the refrigerator, although the ingredients change slightly every time. Once I have jalapeno peppers, the rest are gathered based on what I have at the moment.

I used to make this with all jalapeno peppers until one day, I was hit with a super spicy kind of jalapenos. I almost set my friend on fire with a tiny bite of this thin slice of pepper. The spiciness eventually mellows out a bit after a couple of weeks, but I learned my lesson. From then on, I use a mix of peppers, at least a half of jalapeno with another kind that is not as potent. Red Fresno peppers and red Holland peppers seem about the same as jalapeno spiciness, with a better consistency in the heat level. Plus, how can you deny the bright color pop they bring in with them?

It's a a humble banchan (반찬) on its own, but it goes well with just about everything - in sandwiches, salads, and meat dishes. Aside from whole peppercorns and bay leaf, all the vegetables added for flavoring are edible since they are also pickled. The pepper-steeped soy sauce is now your own flavored spicy soy sauce to be used in other dishes for seasoning, marinade, etc. Feel free to also serve this spicy soy sauce and a few pepper slices together as a dipping sauce for dumplings and savory pancakes. Once you feel comfortable making this version, you can also explore different spices and vegetables to introduce to the mix. Just don't forget that soy sauce, vinegar and Jalapeno peppers are the main bases in this dish.

Yields: About 1 Quart (~ 4 Cups)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. A mix of peppers, at least 1/2 of the mix with Jalapeno peppers,
the rest can be red Holland peppers, red Fresno peppers, or shishito
(In this case, it's a mix of 0.7 lb. jalapeno and 0.3 lb. red Holland.)

2 cup Soy sauce
1/4 ~ 1/2 cup Rice vinegar
Optional) juice from 1 lemon

1/2 Onion, medium-sized, peeled and sliced
5 cloves Garlic, peeled, whole or sliced
1 piece Ginger about the size of 3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 ~ 2 Dried shitake mushrooms
1 piece Dried kelp (about the size of 2 fingers)
1 teaspoon Whole black peppercorns
1 Bay leaf

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar and a mix of aromatics and spices - in this case, onion, garlic, ginger, drired shitake mushroom, dried kelp, whole black peppercorns and bay leaf - in a pot. Set aside and let dried shitake and kelp soak in soy sauce liquid.

2. Rinse peppers in cold water and cut the top off. Cut the peppers into thin slices and put them in a bowl, including seeds.

3. Bring the soy sauce liquid to a boil then turn off the heat. If you're using fresh lemon juice, add lemon juice now to soy sauce liquid. Pour the liquid over the pepper slices. Cool to room temperature. Discard bay leaf.

4. Refrigerate in an airtight container. It is best to let it rest at least overnight. It keeps for weeks.

! TIPS !

! If your pickled pepper is still too spicy, keep it refrigerated for a week or two and taste again. The spiciness subsides over time.

! Wear gloves when you're handling peppers. If you're not wearing gloves, be very careful not to touch the inside and seeds of the peppers. It's seriously not funny when you feel the burn on your hands for hours after making this pickled peppers. This tip is brought to you by painful personal experience of yours truly.

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