Green Peppercorns…

Green peppercorns are not a common ingredient in most marketplaces I have visited. Even the rare visits to markets in Indonesia when we lived there did not yield a whiff of green peppercorns, which are essentially unripe piper nigrum fruit that have a wonderful and unique aroma and taste. They are incredibly distinct and memorable, reminiscent of pepper, but with a smoother less lingering after taste. I find them most memorable in steak sauces, often made with some alcohol like brandy and a touch of cream. A green peppercorn sauce is something you must try if you are a flavor junkie. So you can imagine why my heart skipped a little beat when I came across…

…this enormous container of incredibly fresh looking green peppercorns at a Saigon market on a recent trip. I was so fascinated with the discovery that I ended up with 6 photos of the peppercorns and the vendor but only one photo was barely in focus and usable! Unable to resist the unusual find, I bought half a kilo’s worth to take back to Manila in my luggage. It turns out that some Vietnamese and Indochinese dishes make use of the green peppercorns added directly to the stews or broths, but I couldn’t really find a recipe that seemed like a must do. Instead, I had to figure out a way how to preserve the green peppercorns to lengthen their useful lives. In the past, I have always bought these bottled in brine or vinegar, so I decided to try and make my own brined green peppercorns…

I sterilized a jam bottle. Then boiled up some water, added lots of salt, added the washed and sorted green peppercorns and turned off the heat. I added them to the sterilized bottles, then submerged that in boiling water for say 8-10 minutes. After about a week “curing” I tried the homemade brined peppercorns in a steak sauce and they were fantastic. Not as fragrant as I thought they might be, the next time I use them I will add double the amount of brined peppercorns to get a real hit of that unique green peppercorn flavor and aroma… yum.