pickled korean purple radish

we moved 11 months ago.

it was the right decision,

no doubt.

but, it has been a really

difficult 11 months in so many

different ways and i feel like i've

earned my share in the what

doesn't kill you, makes you

stronger belief, 10 times over.

but, last week, i started a new

phase in my life and, i really

think i'm starting to see the

proverbial light. yes, i'm still

in the midst of...stuff. i'm still

dealing, all the time. but, i took

a step toward a life more rewarding

with a new job, so much closer to home.

ok, it's the same job, but instead of traveling

1 1/2 to 2 hours each way every day, i'm now

responsible for a 20 minute trek.

and, it's so unbelievable that

when people ask me

how much i'm loving my commute,

i find myself going mute.

because how do you describe

what it's like to recover 3-4 hours

of your day 5 times a week?

how do you explain

that it makes you want to cry to

realize that you don't have to engage

in a mini marathon every morning because

for a year, you've refused to set your alarm

earlier than 5 am, even though an hour is

not enough time for you to get ready for work?

how do you explain

that you're no longer freaking

out - as much - over the rising gas prices because

you had to fill your tank 3 times a week, while

also traveling on two major toll rides, twice a day?

how do you explain

that just thinking about a job

near your home, makes you automatically think

straighter and saner?

how do you explain

that this doesn't just feel

like a fresh start, but the true

beginning of a lot of somethings?

so, i usually find myself speaking,

in a stream of conscious way, about it being great

and having to give up books on CDs and that

in the morning, the travel time is still unpredictable

because i keep getting stopped by a train.

why can't i just say it's wonderful?

because, it is, you know.

but, somewhere deep down, i'm a little sad.

when we moved last year, it was hard for me

to give up the first place we lived together,

the place we came home to the day after our wedding,

the place that we solidified that we would be us.

but, i knew that i was not really leaving.

i would still work 10 minutes from our apartment.

i would drive every day to a place that was,

surprisingly, much more familiar than our new

town was and i would still hold onto a piece

of who we were when we first started out.

i could still see the hudson river every day,

marvel daily at my proximity to nyc and

i could visit my favorite places

and people whenever i wanted.

and, now.

that part of my life is really my past.

it's good. really good.

but, i will miss things, like meeting

my former work friends for dinner,

the guy at the gas station who has

given me an incredibly friendly hello

for the past nine years and visiting

the asian markets that became

a very regular part of my life while

living in northern new jersey.

so, last week, following my second to

last day at work, i stopped in on the

korean market one last time to

pick up black garlic, some noodles,

seaweed, very firm red roe,

tiny spicy anchovies and, as

it turns out, this:

it's a korean purple radish. and this one,

at 1.25 pounds, was the smallest one there.

it was so true to the crazy impulses that i've

always experienced in these asian markets

to find something totally random,

something that i had no idea what to do with

and decide that i had to have it. (it's also true,

i also impulsively bought honey powder and

still have zero idea what to do with that.)

and last sunday, two days after my last day,

i did what i do best:

washed it,

thinly sliced it,

quartered it

and pickled it.

it was a good move. i thought that the

radish would be spicy and deeply flavored,

maybe bitter, like daikon. but, this - it was

very crunchy and tasted like nothing.

the slices were screaming for pickling.

i imagined bright purple.

but, as you can see, what i ended up with

was pink. neon pick.

this radish, though -

it's a flavor magnet, quickly sucking

up the spicy, garlicky brine.

within 10 minutes, they were already

singing a new, exciting tune and 20 minutes

later, they were nearing addictive.

in three days, the thin wedges

were extremely bright

in both color and flavor.

we've mostly been eating them as is.

wednesday, though, determined to have a reason

to enjoy them - i created an entire meal around

the pickles. (that, i will tell you about soon.)

but, what made me happy was this: i had

time - real, unrushed time - to leisurely

cook dinner without stress.

and that feeling, unrecognizable, but so welcome,

makes it ok that i may never have the

opportunity to buy another

korean purple radish again.

pickled korean purple radish

if you don't foresee yourself coming across a purple radish any time soon, i think you'll still be ok. i assume it's safe to say that any firm radish you come across can handle this treatment. i made up the recipe using whatever was already in the house, including the three leftover scallions from mashed potatoes i had made an hour earlier. when i finished, i googled korean purple radish (why hadn't i done that first?) and found this recipe, that coincidentally, also called for scallions. the point? there isn't one, except that maybe the two together offer a nice combination.

also, i didn't peel the radish, which i knew could be weird, but i wasn't sure what i would find underneath, and i wanted to make sure that there was still purple on the pickles. i washed the skin well and once pickled, i didn't mind the extra layer at all. i originally planned to pickle them in full rounds, but afterward, realized how large they would be and opted to quarter them. even though the pictures do not depict it, i'm writing the recipe in a more user friendly way.

1 jalapeno pepper, quartered and seeded

3 large cloves garlic, peeled, halved and smashed

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (i measured generously)

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)

16 ounces seasoned rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 purple korean radish (about 1.25 pounds), scrubbed

3 scallions, trimmed

in small saucepot, whisk together jalapeno pepper, garlic, sugar, salt, coriander, rice wine vinegar and water. bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking to dissolve salt and sugar. let boil 5 minutes. remove from heat; let cool 15 minutes.

meanwhile, trim radish. quarter radish lengthwise. thinly slice. place in large container. cut scallions into 1-inch lengths. add to container. pour vinegar mixture over radishes; stir several times or until they begin to soften and are fully submerged. let sit 1-2 hours at room temperature. cover and store in the fridge.

if a picture's worth 1000 words

what do you do when

you're a relatively new food

blogger and your 

camera stops working?

if you're me,

you panic.

you freak out that 

you only got one

picture of the shredded

cucumbers that were

going into the tzatziki

intended to top the 

shrimp souvlaki

you were cooking

before your screen turned

a grainy black.

you may even say something

ridiculous like,

what's the point of even

making the rest of the meal

now?

you beg family and friends

to take pictures of the treats

you bring them and the meals

you make them, feeling sheepish

all the while.

and then, you share one

of the last pictures

that you took with the 

camera before it decided

to betray you.

these are mini spicy korean crabs.

in spite of the fact

that my family insists on

joking 

(at least i think they're joking)

that they're baby crabs and

that i'm heartless for enjoying them, 

i like to

believe that they are mini crabs.

they're teeny tiny 

and spicy and, now

that i've finally tried one,

i can add, 

addicting.

i've been sizing them

up for years after first spotting them in

a large container - 

it looked

like there were 100s inside

and i'll admit it,

i was scared.

over the years,

i've checked them out

often wondering,

do you eat the whole thing?

is it just like a small soft shell

or would i actually have to

go in and pick out the meat?

but yet,

i never bought them.

then recently,

we went to a local market,

good nature, to pick up

daikon to pickle with carrots

(which was so good and i'm so

sad to not have a picture to share)

and i saw the crabs available,

by the pound.

this was my chance and i knew

it. after larry declined any interest

or involvement in the crab situation, 

i picked out four

for myself,

and then convinced him to buy extra spicy

parsnips, just so he could try something

new, too. 

once home, we sampled the parsnips

and then i opened the container of

crabs, peered in

and then gently, touched one.

the shell cracked.

and that's when i figured 

out that

1) these "miniature"

crustaceans never really matured and

2) they're sitting in a spicy marinade so

3) they're soft and

4) i should

eat the whole thing.

i was nervous.

i started with a leg.

then another.

then, finally, i ate the rest

as larry watched my face,

his caught somewhere between

disgust, amusement and

fascination.

i fell in love.

just what i need,

a new food to dream

about and to crave

late at night.

i spread them out

over three days, talking

about them incessantly, asking

when we could go get more and 

when i was down to just two,

taking their picture 

next to a (meyer)

lemon for size comparison.

and now

that my camera has 

taken a self-imposed hiatus,

i'm glad that i did.

because, as with most

foods worth talking about,

there's no way

to really describe

them 

without a visual.

*while the camera is getting fixed, i'm not going anywhere. i'm just relying heavily on said family and friends for photography help...which means that i really will only be able to blog about items that are made for or in front of people and not, for example, the banh mi i made tonight for dinner or the butternut squash ravioli with morels that i made last week. it's a bummer, but it should keep things interesting. stay tuned.