Don't sleep on the okra
Enjoy this wonderfully easy pickled okra recipe while summer lasts
Okra, “gumbo” or “lady finger” is said to have originated in West Africa and made its way to the Americas via the transatlantic slave route between the 16th - 19th centuries. It’s a heat loving crop related to hibiscus, cotton and cacao plants. It is said that African women braided okra seeds into their daughters hair before being forced on slave ships, so that they could always grow food, and have something to eat.
The Gullah Geechee - African American ethnic group located in the coastal regions of the deep south mainly South Carolina - is largely credited for making okra famous in the United States.
Once southern plantation owners learned that African rice would grow on their land, they brought over Africans from rice growing regions of Africa to work as slaves since they had the skills and knowledge to grow rice.
Rice growing caused a newfound influx of mosquitoes in the coastal south. Unlike the Africans, white people lacked immunity to the little pests and so they fled the area, leaving the African rice laborers mostly on their own. They had very little interaction with white people which resulted in a unique preservation of African language, culture, traditions and cuisine in the coastal areas, which became known as the Gullah culture.
Okra, among other foods, made its way from Africa and became a staple food in the Gullah cuisine, found in traditional recipes such as fried okra & shrimp, Okra soup, and the famous Gumbo. In cooler climates where okra has a shorter season, it can be pickled to be preserved for the winter.
Okra is considered a symbol of good fortune, prosperity and fertility. It’s an excellent source of vitamin C and K. Also high in vitamin B6, folate, vitamin A, magnesium and fiber and has a surprising array of health benefits including, lowering cholesterol, lowering blood sugar, stomach & liver cleansing qualities, and possible anti-cancer benefits. It’s classified as a fruit but treated as a vegetable.
It doesn’t have to be slimy! There are ways around the slimy texture of okra. It can simply be eaten raw with salt. Cooked in a soup with tomatoes or another acidic ingredient or it can be pickled (acidic ingredients cut the slime).
Okra has been doing well in the garden lately and it is truly a beautiful plant! We are growing the ‘Sherwood red’ variety. Okra is a nitrogen fixing crop, meaning it adds nitrogen to the soil rather than depleting it. This process works because a certain bacteria colonizing the roots of the plant draws nitrogen in from the air and “fixes” it into the soil. The nitrogen then becomes available for use in the soil for the okra as well as for other plants.
I haven’t been able to gather enough red okra to make pickles yet, but they are so good just eaten raw with salt!
Pickled okra - Easy no canning, refrigerator method
Pickles are one of those things. They are just so easy and fun to make.
Of course, they are easy to buy too, but I love the fact that I get to be 100% in control over my ingredients and add my own flair to the foods I eat.
Many brands of store pickles contain yellow #5 and #6 - linked with behavior problems and cognitive impairments - read more about artificial dyes in our post from a few months back…
Not only are pickles often loaded with dyes, but they are incredibly high in sodium, often contain sugar and mysterious preservatives…..and of course the dreaded “natural flavor”. But with homemade pickles, you can skip all those unnecessary ingredients and have the satisfaction of making your own.
The proper way of preserving homemade pickles is by canning. But because I’m always looking for the lazy way out I enjoy the simple refrigerator method! The result is just as good, you just have to eat them faster - which is no problem in this house.
The result is crunchy, crisp tasty okra “pickles”. Of course, you could follow this same recipe with cucumbers, beets, carrots, or some other solid-bodied vegetable or fruit.
Stick to the basic recipe or jazz it up with an optional seasoning of your choice such as celery seeds, mustard seeds, bay leaves, ground pepper, fresh or dried peppers etc. (Plenty of room for creativity and trial and error here).
My personal favorite spice to add is Morita peppers, which are smoked, dried jalapeño peppers that can be found at any Mexican food market.
You will need:
About 30-35 whole okra
2 Tbs salt
4 Tbs water
1 ½ cup white vinegar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsp seasoning of choice
2 Tbs honey
To make the brine, add the vinegars, salt, water and honey to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat and mix well.
Tightly pack okra and the optional seasonings into 2 mason jars (or other heat proof bowl or jar that has a lid). Choose small okra if possible, the larger ones tend to be tough and take longer to pickle. Also the okra should be cleaned prior to use.
Allow the brine to cool until it is the temperature of very hot bath water. In other words, it should be very hot, but not enough to burn your skin.
Pour the hot brine over the tightly packed okra and cover. (most of the okra should be covered in the liquid) Make more brine if necessary.
Let the jars of okra rest at room temperature for an hour then transfer to the refrigerator. Wait 48 hours to allow for the pickling process before tasting the okra. Consume within 4 weeks. Keep refrigerated.
The temperature of the brine can be adjusted as necessary. The hotter the brine is, the more it will cook the okra, and the faster the pickling process will be. A cooler brine results in a more raw okra and the okra remains a nice green color.
A boiling hot brine results in brownish soft okra pickles, which is why I prefer to let the liquid cool first. Also, the hotter the brine the less nutritious the final pickled product will be, since many vitamins are denatured by heat.
Happy pickling. With love, Julia Cloud