Taquería Carrots (Zanahorias Escabeches)

These spicy pickled carrots — quick and easy to make — are crunchy, tangy, zingy and addictive. Just the thing for a happy hour lift, or to serve with tacos, they’ll keep a week or so refrigerated, but we sincerely doubt they’ll last that long. I like them best with serrano chiles; start with two; if you’re having trouble getting them, use jalapeño. And if you don’t have any fresh hot chiles, improvise — drop in some dried chile flakes, crumble up tiny Asian dried red chiles, or even some slices of pickled jalapeño, tasting for heat level as you go along. At the L.A. taquerías where I first fell in love with them, they’re spicy, but not killer.

It seemed silly not to make a pound’s worth of carrots, but a lot of vinegar is required to cover them completely. Feel free to scale up proportionally, and play with the proportions if you like — it’s a very forgiving recipe.