It has been a while since I made this - as ramps are spring wild plants, but I thought I'd share this Korean pickling recipe with you all.
You can use any vegetables (wild, if available) such as ramps, onions, scallions, cucumbers, chayote squashes, garlic scapes, perilla leaves, water celery, or jalapeno peppers. I used ramps here because where I live now, the Appalachian region in North Carolina, ramps are wildly grown and can be easily found at a local farmers market, parks, hiking trails, etc. in spring. As ramps are also traditional wild plants in Korea, I knew exactly what to do with them. I used my mom's methods of pickling our favorite spring and summer vegetables, which is to use soy sauce in place of salt. You really don't need a recipe if you know the ratio - equal parts of water, soy sauce, and vinegar, and half sugar (1:1:1:0.5).
If you want to be more creative, you can use broth instead of plain water. I made the broth with some dried kelp and dried shitake mushrooms to enhance the umami flavor.
My family enjoys these pickled ramps with their BBQ porks. I like these with grilled tofu, Korean savory pancakes, or just on some plain rice. Please comment if you've tried these. I would love to know what you like to pair them with. —Lauren
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