Pickled Mustard Seeds
Tiny yellow mustard seeds simmer into a tangy, gently spicy pickle that adds pop and crunch to sandwiches, cheese boards, and roasted meats.
Prep 15 min · Cook 45 min · Total 2 hr · Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients
- For the brine:
- 175ml white wine vinegar
- 125ml cider vinegar
- 150ml water
- 50ml rye whiskey
- 2 bay leaves
- 150g brown sugar
- 10g kosher salt
- For the seeds:
- 200g yellow mustard seeds
Directions
- Make the brine by adding the white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, water, whiskey, bay leaves, brown sugar, and salt to a small saucepan. Leave it to sit, with an occasional stir, until the sugar has fully dissolved.
- While the brine is sitting, put the mustard seeds in a separate clean saucepan and add enough cold water to cover them. Bring the water up to a boil, pour the seeds into a fine-mesh strainer, and throw away the cooking water. Do the same blanching process again as needed, tasting the discarded water each time, until it no longer tastes bitter; this may take anywhere from 1 and 8 repetitions.
- Add the blanched, well-drained mustard seeds to the saucepan with the brine. Bring everything to a boil, then lower the heat to the gentlest simmer and cook until the seeds look swollen and the brine has cooked down by about one-third, 15 to 20 minutes. Spoon the seeds and their brine into a sealable container without draining them, cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until needed. Their flavor will continue to develop over a few days.