Ingredients

1/2 medium watermelon, the rind including 1/2 inch red flesh

1 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp plus 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 whole star anise

1 thumb-sized knob of fresh ginger, peeled

Preparation

Cut the watermelon rind into 1-inch-thick slices. Carefully slice the skin off each slice, and cut the slices into 1-inch chunks.

  1. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, star anise, and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the watermelon rind and boil for 1 minute, then carefully transfer to a quart container. Cool and then refrigerate.

These pickles are ready to eat in a couple of hours and will keep for about a week and a half-they start to lose flavor and get too soft after that.