Chiles en escabeche

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 400 gjalapeños, sliced thick or left whole and pricked
• 3carrots, sliced
• 2onions, sliced
• 1 headgarlic, cloves peeled
• 200 gcauliflower, in florets, optional

Escabeche

• 4 tbspvegetable oil
• 500 mlwhite vinegar
• 250 mlwater
• 1 tbspsalt
• 1 tbspsugar
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1 tspblack peppercorns
• 4bay leaves
• 6whole allspice
• 2 sprigsthyme, 2 marjoram

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a wide pan and fry the garlic, onion and carrot over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, until they take a little colour at the edges.
2. Add the chillies and cook for three minutes more, turning them. This frying step is what makes it escabeche rather than a plain vinegar pickle — the vegetables are sautéed before the acid goes anywhere near them, and it gives a rounder, deeper result.
3. Add the vinegar, water, salt, sugar, oregano, peppercorns, bay, allspice and herbs, and bring to a simmer.
4. Simmer for 5 minutes only. The carrots should still resist a knife and the chillies should still be bright — cooked soft here, the jar is mush within a fortnight.
5. Take off the heat and let everything cool in the liquid.
6. Pack into a clean jar with all the liquid and aromatics, and refrigerate for at least three days before eating. Straight away it tastes only of raw vinegar; by day three the heat has spread through the jar.
7. It keeps two months in the fridge and gets steadily hotter as the capsaicin leaches into the vinegar.
8. Serve with tacos, tortas, beans — anything at all.

Technique

• Fry first, then add the vinegar. That order is the whole technique.
• Five minutes of simmering, no more.
• Prick whole chillies if you use them, or the pickle never reaches the inside and they stay raw.

Substitutions

• Serrano or güero chillies in place of jalapeño.
• Cider vinegar for white, which is rounder.
• Nopales or green beans alongside, both of which are common.

Variations

• Chipotles en adobo use smoked dried jalapeños in a tomato and chilli sauce.
• A sweeter version with more sugar and sliced pineapple.

History

Escabeche pickling arrived with the Spanish from Arab Andalusia and fixed itself onto Mexico’s chiles.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chiles en escabeche?

Chiles en escabeche is a fermented & pickled from Mexico: jalapeños with carrot and onion in herbed vinegar, eaten with everything. Escabeche pickling arrived with the Spanish from Arab Andalusia and fixed itself onto Mexico’s chiles.

How long does Chiles en escabeche take to make?

Chiles en escabeche takes 25 min plus 3 days of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes fills a 1-litre jar. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Chiles en escabeche?

Yes, within limits. Serrano or güero chillies in place of jalapeño. Cider vinegar for white, which is rounder. Nopales or green beans alongside, both of which are common.

What is the most important thing to get right in Chiles en escabeche?

Add the chillies and cook for three minutes more, turning them. This frying step is what makes it escabeche rather than a plain vinegar pickle — the vegetables are sautéed before the acid goes anywhere near them, and it gives a rounder, deeper result.