Pickle

The piquancy of little sweet-and-sour squash helps balance the lavishness of the creamed corn and okra stew. The surprise ingredient here is maple syrup: It adds a more rounded flavor to the pickles than sugar. A mixture of tiny green, yellow, and pattypan squash makes a visual impact, but slices of regular zucchini would be delicious, too.

It's hard to overstate the importance of kimchi, which is typically a spicy dish of fermented firm leafy cabbage and other vegetables. This mild version omits chilies. Begin making it at least three days ahead.

Happiness is having a jar of sweet, tart, crunchy relish in the refrigerator. It's a project that easily fits into your culinary repertoire.

A popular kimchi enjoyed in the summer, this dish is a good example of the ying and the yang in Korean cuisine. The coolness of the cucumbers is balanced with the spiciness of the chile powder. Even in the fermentation process, the cucumbers stay nice and crisp. You'll need a 1/2-gallon glass jar to hold the cucumbers.

Korean tables—both in restaurants and at home—are always set with a series of banchan, or little dishes that can be eaten alone, with rice, or as an accompaniment to the main course. To keep things lively, banchan should run the gamut of tastes and textures, and this particular pickle really sparkles: It is sweet, tart, crisp, and fresh. Salting the sliced cucumbers and then squeezing out their excess water allows them to fully soak up the pickling mixture.

You'll often see a Western-style salad on the menu at a restaurant in South Korea—in all likelihood, a result of the American presence there since World War II. Romaine retains a nice crunch, even after marinating in a hot dressing. Like the cucumber apple pickle , this dish adds a welcome splash of green to the table.

No Korean meal is complete without kimchi, a piquant condiment of fermented vegetables (most popularly cabbage) seasoned with ginger, garlic, chile, and all manner of fresh or preserved seafood. Fermenting the ingredients over several days gives the dish its distinctive tang, but this easy version, which takes advantage of the funky depth of Asian fish sauce, offers relatively instant gratification.

Green chiles pickled in soy sauce and vinegar are a traditional Korean banchan, so food editor Lillian Chou, who created this menu, was surprised when she discovered a similar dish made with jalapeños and soy sauce at a taco bar in Mexico. But it's no wonder the combination has universal appeal. Here, Chou calls for brown sugar and lemon zest in place of vinegar, and the ingredients hit all the right spots: hot, salty, and a little sweet. Chile fanatics will be happy to munch on these just as they are, but the jalapeños and their liquid also make a terrific accompaniment to the first course of <epi:recieplink id="3510910">shrimp and scallion pancakes.</epi:recieplink>

Possibly the most versatile of condiments, pickled vegetables meddle their way into most every culinary tradition, from giant kosher dills at the deli and ume plums in Japan to German sauerkraut and French cornichons. Because they keep indefinitely, a good batch of pickled red onions will wake up Chinese leftovers or act as a companion to a luscious grilled cheese sandwich with pulled short ribs . I first served this particular recipe to temper the richness of a refined duck pâté. Easy, cheap, fast: What better combination?

This recipe was passed down to food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez via in-laws and aunts from Calabria, Italy, to Brooklyn. In this savory starter, sticks of eggplant readily soak up a garlicky oil- and-vinegar marinade and soften, making them an ideal topping for crusty bread. Although her great-aunt used to make and jar vats of this antipasto, Miraglia Eriquez now prepares and refrigerates smaller batches. You'll always be glad to have some on hand.

Here, chorizo replaces the usual steak or chicken.

As a wake-up call to his taste buds, food editor Ian Knauer adds a dollop of this vibrant, garlicky hot sauce to his egg sandwich (it often finds its way onto his lunch and dinner plates, too). Its versatility is the key—any variety or combination of chiles will produce a different yet full-flavored, lip-tingling sauce.

The small, knobby tubers called Jerusalem artichokes grow wild all along the Eastern Seaboard, and southerners have long prized their sweet, nutty crispness in turmeric-spiked relishes and pickles. Countless cooks south of the Mason-Dixon Line have inherited a yellow-stained index card that reads something like this.

Substituting rice vinegar (instead of cider or wine vinegar) produces a pickle that's less tart.

Preserved lemons are perhaps most at home in Moroccan dishes, but we love their complex, bright flavor and aroma in all kinds of soups, stews, and salads. We've adapted Mediterranean-food authority Paula Wolfert's quick method and made it even faster by blanching the lemons first. If you manage to find Meyer lemons, this is a great way to capture their unforgettable taste and perfume.

The Japanese are wild about pickles, pickling practically every vegetable and root they come across—and in sweet, salty, sour, and bitter incarnations to boot. In this classic, a hit of wasabi powder adds a subtle heat to these savory quick pickles.

Be sure to buy a colorful assortment of baby vegetables. Serve as a side for roasted meat or fish, as an antipasto with salumi and breadsticks, or as an appetizer with crusty bread and goat cheese.