Pickled Chiles

This recipe is a variation on the one in Alford and Duguid's big, fat, wonderful book Beyond the Great Wall.

Theirs called for very ripe, red, cayennes. I went for the greens, because that's all I could find, so mine isn't as sweet, but it suits my palate fine.

1/4 pound cayenne chilis or something similar (about 8 6" peppers)
1 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns (I have some extra if you don't have any and would like to try this)
1 star anise (once again, let me know and I'll bring one in for you)

Wash the chilis and cut the stems. Cut peppers into 1/2" slices.

Heat the vinegar. Add salt and stir until it dissolves. Add peppercorns and star anise. Bring to a boil, then lower and simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm.

Sterilize a one cup canning jar with lid and ring.

Stuff the chili pieces into the jar, pressing them down to compact them. Pour the vinegar and spices into the jar, filling it to the top. Slap the lid on and tighten it up.

Set the jar in a sunny spot for two days, then refridgerate. The recipe says that the pickles will be ready in two weeks, but taste better if you wait longer. I waited. They keep up to three months.

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Side note: I think it was Charlie who mentioned the Latin American taste here -- maybe it was George. I thought this was interesting because later, Ana, who is from Columbia, seemed to find them a familiar taste and put the pickles on top of the pork instead of eating them whole, as the rest of us were doing.