Easy Pickled Beets

April 2020. Spring in lockdown. The cherry blossoms bloom for nobody — the streets empty, the parks closed, the pink petals falling on deserted sidewalks. I can see them from the apartment window. The blossoms do not know about the pandemic. The blossoms bloom regardless. There is a lesson in the blossoms that I am too tired to articulate, but the lesson is something like: continue. Bloom anyway. The world is uncertain but the spring is certain and the cherry blossoms are the most Korean thing about Seattle — they bloom in Korean season (cherry blossoms are central to Korean spring) and they persist despite circumstances. I am the cherry blossoms. I bloom anyway.

This week I made a dish I have been avoiding for years: bosam from scratch — boiled pork belly, served with all the accompaniments. The pork belly simmered for two hours in a broth of doenjang, ginger, garlic, and coffee (yes, coffee — Kevin's influence). The result was tender, rich, the fat rendered, the meat falling into slices. I served it with lettuce, ssamjang, kimchi, raw garlic, and pickled radish. James ate six wraps. Six. The man eats like someone who understands that food in a pandemic is not just nutrition — it is sanity, joy, the proof that good things still exist when the world outside the window is empty and silent.

David's retirement from Boeing was announced this week. Not his choice — the pandemic accelerated Boeing's layoffs, and at seventy-seven, David was in the first wave. Karen called to tell me. "He is lost," she said. "He does not know what to do." The loss of work is the loss of identity for David. Thirty-five years of Boeing. The badge, the commute, the daily purpose. Gone. I understand loss of identity. I spent four years rebuilding mine. I said, "Give him a project." Karen said, "He built a birdhouse already." I said, "Give him another project." David built three more birdhouses. Then he started a garden. Engineers, when displaced from their primary project, will engineer anything. The garden is David's new system, and the tomatoes will be grown with aerospace precision.

Saturday Zoom: Karen made her shepherd's pie. I made doenjang jjigae. We ate on screens and talked about David and the garden and the pandemic and the pot roast and the birdhouses and the everything that is both terrible and continuing.

The pickled radish on my bosam table that week was store-bought — a small surrender I’ve been thinking about ever since. There is something about the act of pickling, of putting something bright and alive into a jar and trusting that it will hold, that felt exactly right for April 2020. So I started making my own: first radish, then cucumbers, then these beets, which are easy and forgiving and turn the most extraordinary color in the brine. The cherry blossoms bloom whether anyone watches or not. A jar of pickled beets keeps whether or not the world outside makes sense. That’s enough of a reason.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr (plus chilling) | Servings: 8

Ingredients

2 lbs fresh beets (about 6 medium), scrubbed and trimmed
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

Cook the beets. Place beets in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook uncovered for 35–45 minutes, until a knife slides through the thickest beet without resistance. Drain and let cool until handleable.
Peel and slice. Rub the skins off with paper towels or your hands — they slip right off once cooked. Trim the ends and slice beets into 1/4-inch rounds or wedges, whichever you prefer. Arrange in a clean heatproof jar or bowl with the sliced onion.
Make the brine. In a small saucepan, combine both vinegars, water, sugar, salt, peppercorns, and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar fully dissolves, about 2–3 minutes.
Pour and cool. Pour the hot brine over the beets and onions, making sure everything is submerged. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. They’re best after 24 hours.
Serve. These keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Serve cold alongside roasted meats, grain bowls, or — as I do — as part of a full banchan spread with whatever you’re wrapping in lettuce.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Pickled Beets — The Pandemic Project That Taught Me to Bloom Anyway