Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Another reason for breath mints: rakkyou
Rakkyou is a member of the lily family, as are onion and garlic. The dictionary translates it as shallots, but they are a particular kind of very pungent shallot that the Japanese like to pickle. They are lovely with beer.
Pickling is a bit involved, but the worst part of it all is actually cleaning and peeling the outer skin off the shallots. As I said, they are pungent, and it would be a good time to sed sensitive members of the family (ie. those with a sense of smell) out of the kitchen. Both ends of the shallots needed snipping off, leaving only the bulb, which I covered generously with salt (about 10% by weight) and allowed to brine overnight.
The following day, I shook off the excess salt and cover the shallots with a mix of boiling rice vinegar and sugar (about equal parts: 300ml vinegar to 300 grams sugar). I added wakame and a few red peppers for flavor. The point of boiling was to thoroughly dissolve the sugar, and to give the shallots an extra crunchiness. After it cooled, I stuck it in the fridge and waited a week.
The result, as you can see, and I can taste, was great! Now, back to to the breath mints.
Pickling is a bit involved, but the worst part of it all is actually cleaning and peeling the outer skin off the shallots. As I said, they are pungent, and it would be a good time to sed sensitive members of the family (ie. those with a sense of smell) out of the kitchen. Both ends of the shallots needed snipping off, leaving only the bulb, which I covered generously with salt (about 10% by weight) and allowed to brine overnight.
The following day, I shook off the excess salt and cover the shallots with a mix of boiling rice vinegar and sugar (about equal parts: 300ml vinegar to 300 grams sugar). I added wakame and a few red peppers for flavor. The point of boiling was to thoroughly dissolve the sugar, and to give the shallots an extra crunchiness. After it cooled, I stuck it in the fridge and waited a week.
The result, as you can see, and I can taste, was great! Now, back to to the breath mints.
