April is always an awkward month.

That New Year energy is well and truly spent, the seasons are not yet settled, and everything feels a little in between. For us April has been hot and dry, a welcome change from the seemingly endless rainy days that encompassed all of February add bled into March.

After weeks of blue skies and 30C+ temps, with the cabin tipping into the mid 30’s during the peak afternoon hours, I am finding it difficult to get excited about standing over the stove to make supper. To be honest, I find it difficult to muster much of an appetite in this heat anyway. What I really want to eat are things that are cold and crunchy, which is probably why I have been making so many varieties of quick pickles lately.

Over the years I’ve made all sorts of pickles.

Back in Fiji I adapted my grandfather’s Mustard Pickle recipe to use green papaya instead of cucumber.

In the Solomon Islands we were catching a lot of fish so I made a batch of Pickled Ginger.

I’ve done jars of Pickled Beans and Pickled Okra. And no, pickling it doesn’t really make okra any less ‘snotty,’ but it does make it edible…kinda. For a while in the Philippines I was buying boxes of 150 quail eggs and pickling those. Delicious but a real b*tch to peel. When I have a lot of fresh chilies I’ll slice them thin and pickle them a la a fiery jalapeno. A while ago I made my first jar of Pickled Red Onions and wondered how I lived without them in my fridge for so many years.

Recently, I have been leaning into Pickled Beets and Pickled Pineapple.

Pickled Beets because Steve loves them. (When we were in Canada last summer my Aunt Dorothy came over with a 1 litre jar of her home-grown and pickled beets and Steve devoured most of the jar!) And I miss all those hearty, fall root vegetables that Canada is known for. I stumble across them in the market every once in a while, looking slightly jet-lagged but still feeling firm, and I can’t resist grabbing a couple.

Pickled Pineapple because I was recently reminded of the recipe I posted here a few years ago. It’s an interesting way to use up pineapple when they are in season and people are nearly giving them away. Although I do love a juicy slice of fresh, sweet pineapple, I can only eat so much before my mouth feels raw and tingly.    

I like a quick pickle recipe.

They are the kind that goes in right into the fridge, no need to sterilize jars, no fussy water bath processing. Just prep the veg, pack them into a clean jar, pour a simple brine over them, stick ‘em in the fridge for a few days and TADA  you got yourself a jar of pickles. Satisfying. Simple. Something  ready and waiting to brighten up a boring bowl meal.
Yesterday afternoon I was sitting under a fan, sweating after I’d just had a shower, struggling to think, let alone get up the enthusiasm to pull together something for supper.

There was some handmade pork dumplings in the fridge that needed to be cooked before they spoiled but I did not want a hot meal. Steve, who was lying prone under the other fan, lifted his head and suggested that I just make a salad since we actually had some lettuce in the fridge – delicate leafy greens also tend to wilt in this heat and so rarely look good enough to buy.

Dumplings and salad didn’t make a cohesive meal in my mind. Besides, I was staring at the two sticks of crusty bread cooling on the galley counter, the results of a productive day baking in my GoSun solar oven.

And who can resist fresh bread? Then I remembered the jar of hoisin sauce I recently put in the fridge.

What about a deconstructed Banh Mi? I asked above the whirl of the fans.
A Banh Mi Bowl? Steve replied barely moving, Sounds great to me!

When you live on a boat you eat out of a bowl a lot. At least we do.

Bowls mean we can eat in the cockpit without a table, or when the boat is rocking in a seaway, or while huddled under a fan when its hot AF. Since my cooking usually leans towards Asian flavours and preparations – think rice, stirfrys, noodles, meat and veg chopped into bite sized pieces anyway – bowls lend themselves to most meals I serve. Recently I have taken to dismantling meals that would usually be served on a plate or eaten with your hands – think burgers, tacos, sandwiches – and serving their component parts neatly arranged in a bowl. Hence the idea for a Banh Mi Bowl.

Banh Mi is a Vietnamese street food sandwich that is traditionally a combo of pate, some type of sliced Asian ham or pork, veggies, pickled carrots, mayo, herbs, and chilies served on a baguette. A real mash up of Asian and French flavours and textures that  makes for a fresh, exciting meal.

We had pork dumplings instead of pate and ham, and a focaccia style loaf instead of  a crispy baguette, but I did have the cucumber, lettuce, chilies, and herbs. I always have plenty of fresh carrots in the fridge and debated about just grating some into the bowl but decided that it wouldn’t take much effort to take it to the next level.

It was time for another quick pickle.

In my smallest pot I made a quick brine using 1 Cup water, ½ Cup Rice Vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar. Combine, heat, and stir until dissolved.

This 2:1 water to vinegar plus salt recipe is my go to recipe for any quick pickle. Rice vinegar is used for a more delicate flavour but standard white vinegar will do for stronger fruits/veggies like pineapple and beets. Apple cider vinegar would be a good middle ground. A little sugar plays on the sweet and sour vibes, but that’s really all personal preference.

As that came up to heat I carefully julienned a medium carrot. It turned out to be about a handful. That got added to pot and shortly after it came up to a simmer I took it off the stove. If I was also pickling something like beans I would use this method as they will soften just enough in the hot brine. For things like beets cook them until tender, slice and pack them into a jar, then pour the brine over. For pineapple just slice, pack, and pour.

Since we’d be eating in an hour or so…

I transferred the carrots and brine into a metal bowl and placed it outside the galley window so it would cool a little quicker. If I had been planning ahead I would have done this in the morning or the day before and bottle them so the pickles had time to chill in the fridge.

Next I steamed the dumplings to cook them through, and then fried them quickly in hot oil to get a few crispy edges. The cucumber was peeled and sliced. The green onions, garlic chives, and cilantro were neatly chopped. The lettuce washed and torn into bite sized pieces. The bread cut into long slices on the diagonal. When it was time to eat I simply arranged everything neatly in a bowl, drizzled the crispy dumplings with hoisin sauce, and garnished with a few slices of bright, hot chilies and a crack of freshly ground pepper.

The banh mi bowl ended up being familiar but also excitingly exotic thanks to the herbs and hoisin sauce. The pickled carrot was still a little firm but the pickling made it interesting, elevated. The meal hit all the right spots – sweet, salty, pickled, spicy, fatty, crunchy, fresh. I am sure it is delicious as a sandwich, but I am also sure that I’ll be making a Bahn Mi Bowl again soon too.

Hope inspires you to make a quick pickle and think outside the bowl. You just never know what deliciousness you’ll come up with.

Love,
H&S