Syltede Asier

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl for salting
• •Colander
• •Heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •4 clean glass jars with lids, 500ml each
• •Vegetable peeler

Instructions

1. 1

   Peel and seed the cucumbers

   Peel the overgrown cucumbers with a vegetable peeler and cut them in half lengthways. Scoop out all the seeds and soft pulp with a spoon. You want only the firm outer flesh. The seeds hold moisture and turn to mush in the brine, so be thorough here. Cut the seeded halves into chunks roughly 3cm across. They don't need to be uniform, but keep them close in size so they cure evenly.

   If your cucumbers are truly enormous, the flesh near the centre will be pale and spongy. Cut that away too. Only the firm, greenish-white outer flesh pickles well.
2. 2

   Salt overnight

   Place the cucumber chunks in a large bowl and toss them with the coarse sea salt, making sure every piece is coated. Cover the bowl with a cloth or plate and leave it in a cool place overnight, or for at least twelve hours. The salt draws water out of the flesh. By morning you'll find a pool of liquid at the bottom of the bowl and the pieces will have shrunk and firmed noticeably. This is exactly what you want. That water would have diluted your brine and made the pickles soft and dull.

   Don't rush the salting. Six hours is the bare minimum, but twelve is better. The longer the salt works, the firmer and crisper the finished pickles will be.
3. 3

   Drain and rinse

   Drain the cucumber pieces in a colander and rinse them briefly under cold running water to wash off the excess salt. Let them drain well while you make the brine. A few shakes of the colander will do it. You don't need them bone-dry, but you don't want them sitting in a puddle either.

4. 4

   Make the brine

   Combine the vinegar, water, and brown sugar in a heavy saucepan. Add the mustard seeds, turmeric, peppercorns, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick. Bring everything to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Let it boil for two minutes. The kitchen will smell sharp and warm at the same time, vinegar cutting through the sweet spice. That's the smell of Danish Christmas preparation, and you'll recognize it every year after this one.

   The turmeric will stain everything it touches: your spoon, your cloth, your fingertips. Work on a surface you don't mind colouring, and use stainless steel utensils.
5. 5

   Pack and pour

   Pack the drained cucumber chunks tightly into clean, sterilised glass jars. Don't be shy about pressing them in. Tuck a bay leaf from the brine into each jar, visible against the glass. Pour the hot brine over the cucumbers, making sure every piece is submerged and the spices are distributed between the jars. The liquid should cover the cucumber by at least a centimetre. If it doesn't, press the pieces down or remove one or two. Every chunk must be under the brine. Anything above the surface will not keep.

   Sterilise your jars by running them through a hot dishwasher cycle or placing them upright in a 120C oven for fifteen minutes. Clean jars and hot brine are what keep the pickles safe for months.
6. 6

   Seal and store

   Seal the jars tightly while the brine is still hot. As the liquid cools, the lids will pull inward slightly, creating a vacuum seal. You'll hear the small click of each lid drawing in. That sound means the jar is properly sealed. Let them cool completely at room temperature, then move to a cool, dark cupboard. The pickles are ready to eat after two weeks, but they improve with time. By Christmas they'll be exactly where you want them: firm, golden, sweet-sour, and deeply spiced. You'll know when they're right.

Chef Tips

• •The cucumbers you want are the big, overgrown ones that gardeners apologise for. In Danish, these are asier. If you can't find truly overgrown cucumbers, large regular cucumbers work, but peel and seed them just the same. The skin on a shop cucumber is often waxed, and the seeds are where the water hides.
• •Some older Danish recipes call for pouring the brine over the cucumbers, letting it cool completely, then draining the brine off, reboiling it, and pouring it over again. Repeat three times over three days. It's more work, but the texture it produces is extraordinary: almost translucent, very firm, deeply flavoured throughout. If you have the patience, try it once. You won't go back.
• •Use light brown sugar for a gentle warmth, or dark muscovado if you want a deeper, more treacly sweetness. Both are traditional. The colour of the finished pickle shifts with the sugar you choose, from pale gold to deep amber.
• •These pickles are made for the Christmas flaeskesteg, but they belong alongside cold roast pork, leverpostej, or a sharp aged cheese on rugbrod any time you open a jar. Once opened, keep it in the fridge and eat within a month.

Advance Preparation

• •Syltede asier are a make-ahead preserve by nature. Make them in late August or September and they'll be ready well before Christmas. Sealed jars keep in a cool, dark cupboard for up to a year.
• •The pickles improve steadily over the first two months as the brine penetrates and the spices deepen. The best syltede asier I've eaten were made in August and opened on Christmas Eve. That's the joy of waiting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)