Old-Fashioned Chow Chow
Chow chow is what a Southern or Appalachian kitchen made when the first frost was coming and the garden was still full of odds and ends — the last green tomatoes that would never ripen, a cabbage, a few peppers and onions, all chopped fine and put up in jars against the winter. It's a chunky, sweet-and-tangy pickled relish, and if you've never had it, picture the best thing you could spoon over a bowl of pinto beans, a plate of greens, or a hot dog — that's chow chow.
The one step you mustn't skip is the overnight salting. Tossed with salt and left in a colander overnight, the chopped vegetables give up their excess water — and that's what keeps the finished relish crisp and stops the jars turning watery. The next day it all cooks briefly in a golden, mustard-and-turmeric vinegar brine, just to the boil, so the vegetables keep their crunch.
This is the easy refrigerator method — no canning kit, no fuss, and the jars keep for a couple of months in the fridge. Give it a few days before you dig in: like all good relishes, chow chow needs a little time for the flavours to marry into something greater than a bowl of chopped vegetables.
Old-Fashioned Chow Chow
The end-of-garden relish of cabbage, green tomatoes & peppers in a sweet-tangy mustard brine.
Ingredients
- For salting
- 500 g green cabbage, finely chopped
- 500 g green tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 onions and 2 green peppers, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp fine salt
- For the brine
- 500 ml cider vinegar
- 250 g granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
- 2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp celery seeds and ½ tsp chilli flakes
Method
- Salt overnight. Toss the chopped cabbage, green tomatoes, onions and peppers with the salt in a large bowl. Tip into a colander set over a bowl and leave overnight (or at least 4 hours) — this is the crunch step.
- Rinse and drain. Rinse the vegetables well under cold water to remove the salt, then squeeze and drain them thoroughly. Wet vegetables make watery chow chow.
- Make the brine. Bring the vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, turmeric, celery seeds & chilli flakes to the boil in a large pan, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Just to the boil. Add the drained vegetables and bring just back to the boil, then simmer 5 minutes only. Any longer and they go soft — chow chow should stay crisp.
- Jar it. Pack hot into clean 500 ml jars, cover with brine, cool, lid and refrigerate. Keeps 2 months chilled.
- Wait a few days. Leave it at least 3 days before eating so the flavours marry. Spoon over beans, greens, hot dogs or cheese on toast.
Chop everything to a similar small dice so it spoons neatly and pickles evenly — a food processor pulsed in short bursts saves your arm, but don't let it turn to mush. A crinkle-cut of colour from a red pepper makes a prettier jar.
Tips for crisp, bright chow chow
Salt is the secret
The overnight salt-and-drain pulls out the water that would otherwise make the relish soft and watery. It's the whole game.
Barely cook it
Bring the vegetables just to the boil and simmer only 5 minutes. Overcooked chow chow loses its signature crunch.
Give it time
Straight from the jar it tastes sharp; a few days in the fridge and the sweet, tangy, mustardy flavours come together properly.
Questions, answered
What do you eat chow chow with?
It's the classic Southern topping for a bowl of pinto or brown beans and a pot of greens (collards, kale), and it's wonderful on hot dogs, burgers, cornbread, fried fish, or alongside cheese and cold cuts. Anywhere you'd want a sweet-tangy pickle, chow chow belongs.
What is chow chow made of?
It varies by family, but the old-fashioned base is finely chopped green cabbage, green tomatoes, onions and peppers, pickled in a sweet-and-tangy mustard-and-turmeric vinegar brine. Some versions add sweetcorn, beans or cauliflower — it began as a way to use up whatever the garden had left.
How long does chow chow keep?
Made by the refrigerator method here, about 2 months chilled, kept under the brine with a clean spoon. Processed in a boiling water bath, sealed jars keep up to a year in a cool, dark cupboard; refrigerate once opened.
What's the difference between red and green chow chow?
Green chow chow is built on green tomatoes and cabbage, as here. Red versions lean on ripe tomatoes and red peppers for a sweeter, redder relish. Both use the same sweet-tangy pickling method — it just depends what the garden gave you.