Soy Garlic Cherry Tomatoes

Why would I take something as delicious on their own as cherry tomatoes and make a pickle out of them? The same reason anyone makes pickles. There's just too much great produce and not enough people to eat it.

This is a quick, easy refrigerator pickle. While putting up food using water bath canning is simple and I'm a big fan of it, refrigerator pickles are also useful. They're the "it's a busy week. I swear I'll get to these later" fix for busy CSA members. You put the brine over whatever you're pickling, seal the jar, stick in the fridge and then literally, get to it in the next week or two. After the jar is opened, these tomatoes should be good for another two weeks.

I think they're going to be great as a replacement for plain cherry tomatoes in my favorite cold spicy peanut noodles recipe. They'll also be good on salads with some sort of miso-ginger dressing.

Just an interesting side note: If you happen to have a bunch of unused, factory sealed Ball jars in your apartment during a hurricane/tropical storm, when the pressure starts to drop, the lids will pop. This (and the howling winds) will keep you up most of the night.

Soy Garlic Cherry Tomatoes
Adapted from Tart and Sweet


1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 c soy sauce
1/2 c rice vinegar
1 T chopped garlic
1 T grated ginger

Wash and dry a 1 quart mason jar, a lid and screw band. Fill with boiling water (you want a hot jar that's sterile on the inside). Place the lid and screw band in a small bowl of boiling water. Set aside while you prep the tomatoes, garlic and ginger.

Put the soy sauce and vinegar in a small non-reactive saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.

While the soy sauce/vinegar mixture is heating, carefully dump the water out of the jar (a jar lifter or a set of oven mitts will be useful here). Add the garlic and ginger to the jar, then the tomatoes.

When the soy sauce mixture is boiling, remove from heat. Place a clean canning funnel on top of the jar and pour in the boiling brine, making sure all the tomatoes are submerged. This won't fill the jar all the way (it will get to about the 24 oz mark).

Wipe the rim, use a magnetic wand to lift the lid out of the water and cover the jar. Screw on the band. Place the jar in the fridge (the lid will likely suck down while it's in there). Let the jar cure for at least a week.  Once opened these will last for about two weeks.

Makes 1 quart jar