How Stephanie Izard Turns 1 Ingredient Into a Shortcut Pickle Brine

You don’t need much to make delicious homemade pickles. If you have vinegar, sugar, and salt on hand, you’re well on your way to enjoying Spicy Dill Quick Pickles or Bread-and-Butter Pickled Green Tomatoes. But at the inaugural Food & Wine Classic in Charleston, 2011 Best New Chef Stephanie Izard shared a shortcut that makes pickling that much easier. 

“Seasoned rice vinegar is great [for pickles] because it already has the perfect balance of salt and sugar,” Izard says. And the pickle possibilities are endless. “I pickle onions and peppers together, golden beets, shallots and ramps, green mangoes, jackfruit…” 

Izard adds that her favorite brand is Marukan whether she’s pickling at her restaurants or at home. “We go through enormous amounts.” 

What is seasoned rice vinegar? 

Popular in East Asian and Vietnamese cuisines, rice vinegar is made by fermenting rice with koji, yeast, and water to brew sake, which is then aerated to create vinegar and diluted with water. Seasoned rice vinegar simply adds salt and sugar to the mix. It’s typically not used in cooking, but instead as a seasoning ingredient for sushi rice, dipping sauces, and dressings. 

How to make pickles with seasoned rice vinegar

Rice vinegar often has an acidity content lower than the 5% threshold recommended by the National Center for Home and Food Preservation, making most brands unsafe for canning. However, it’s still safe (and delicious) to use for quick pickles. 

To make quick pickles with seasoned rice vinegar, you can skip the sugar and salt, but you’ll need water. Izard uses a hot or cold brine depending on what she’s pickling: 

To make a hot brine for onions, peppers, or mixes like giardiniera, bring three parts vinegar and one part water to a boil. Simmer the liquid for about five minutes before pouring over your produce in a one-quart mason jar or container. Let sit until the brine comes to room temperature, then refrigerate. 

To make crisp cold pickles out of cucumbers, thin jalapeño slices, or fruit, simply combine equal parts vinegar and water before pouring over your produce and allowing it to sit for about 15 minutes.

And, if you don’t use it all for pickling, try adding seasoned rice vinegar to your next rice bowl, salad dressing, or dipping sauce. Just remember that it’s already seasoned, so you’ll want to tweak other ingredients to taste.