Got Five Minutes? Make a Pickle

When you need something to spark a meal, put a couple of pickles on the table.

And, no, it doesn't take boiling bottles and sealing lids and waiting for the vegetables to turn into something  succulent. David Chang, chef and owner of the Momofuku restaurant group in New York City, makes all kinds of pickles; he even has a pickle course. And in his beautiful cookbook, "Momofuku," written with Peter Meehan, he has the five-minute pickle. Yes.

Here it is: Mix together 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar, 6 tablespoons sugar, 2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt (if you use regular table salt it will be way too salty) and stir to dissolve. Soak thin slices of radish, or cucumber or even beets in the brine for a couple of minutes. They are ready. Chang says they are better in a week, but ours never last that long.

We have tried lots of vegetables and fruits: our favorites are paper-thin slices of  radish, and most amazingly delicious: 1-inch cubes of honeydew melon, soaked for up to a week, but fabulous right away.