This is the easiest thing to do in the whole world yet it goes so well with all Cantonese noodles dishes. Therefore, every discerning connoisseur of Chinese Cantonese food must have a jar all ready in the fridge!

Chillies of course are not a native Chinese food, they came from South America.

And the place where chillies entered the realm of the Chinese palette was naturally the ports of call in the southeast of the country, in places such as Hongkong. Once adopted,  pickled green chillies became the must-have condiment that goes with any stir-fried Cantonese noodles – be it rice noodles like horfun 河粉 or egg noodles with wantans 馄饨面.

My fusion variation: I have used Mexican jalapeños because I LOVE hot chilies. I have also used a mixture of 50% white vinegar (like rice or alcohol vinegar) and 50% cider vinegar (for that extra aroma). You may choose to use 100% white vinegar, which is the traditional Cantonese way; Or, if you use 100% cider vinegar, the apple aroma might be over-powering – but that is a personal preference.

Ingredients:

2 empty jam jars with lids (sterilised with boiling water and then dried)
12-15 jalapeños
1 jar full of vinegar – 50% white vinegar 50% cider vinegar (for me it came up to about 400ml)
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt

Serving: 2 jars

Instructions:

  1. Hold each chilli by the stalk and cut in slices, discard the stalks.
  2. Put your sliced chillies in a colander with big holes and stir them around with chopsticks to get the seeds out.
  3. Place the chillies in the two jars.
  4. In a pot, heat up the vinegar with salt and sugar. Once the latter is dissolved, pour the solution into the jars to the brim. Seal and leave to cool.
  5. Once cool, the chillies will look off-green. Put them in the fridge. You can consume them for months as long as they are in the fridge.
  6. These have the hotness of jalapeños compared to normal green chillies, the aroma of cider plus the sweetness from the sugar! Enjoy!!