Pickled Vegetables

Meal: Easy, Cold

“My mother knew dozens of ways to salt, dry, or pickle the fresh vegetables we grew,” recalls Mrs. Chiang. “In the summer she festooned our house with strings of drying cabbages and turnips; whatever other vegetables we couldn’t eat fresh were laid down in big earthenware jars with brine and aromatic spices. In the winter the jars would be opened and we ate pickled vegetables every day. For breakfast we had rice or congee (rice gruel) sprinkled with