There's a mysterious recipe that floats around these parts of East Texas. It's been around forever and yet many have never seen it written down. I have found myself engaged in several conversations, at different occasions, regarding it uses. It's commonly eaten as a relish but then it can be a salad. Ask any East Texas man what he loves to eat over his black eyed peas or fried okra and he will enthusiastically reply, "SLANG JANE!" It's enough to make a grown man's knees buckle and his eyes roll back. Just at the thought of it, he'll start telling you of all the times his Momma used to make it when he was growing up.
I had never heard of Slang Jane. Then with the cucumbers and okra coming into season, the men-folk around here started telling me that I needed to make it. Unfortunately, NONE OF THEM could tell me how their mommas put it together.
So there I was standing in the grocery store listening to the store manager go on about his momma's Slang Jane, when I finally asked him how she made it. With a shrug in his shoulders, he says, "I don't know. I know it had lots of vinegar, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions." Thankfully, he knows how much I like cooking, so he called up his Momma on the phone. The phone they like to use up front in front of all the check out lines.
"Mom?" he says. I witness a grown man shrink to a young boy right before my eyes. "How do you make Slang Jane?"
I frantically started digging through my purse for scrap paper and a pen. Then, the store manager hands me the receiver and says, "Here. You better talk to her." I couldn't believe it. I was FINALLY getting my hands on the renowned Slang Jane recipe.
AND HERE'S ALL THERE'S TO IT
- 2 good size pickling cucumbers
- 1 large meaty tomato
- 1 small yellow onion
- cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- a pinch or two fresh ground pepper
Dice the cucumbers, tomato and onion into the same size pieces, and toss together in a medium bowl. Pour in enough cider vinegar to cover the salad. Season with sugar, salt and pepper. If the vinegar flavor is too strong for you, cut it with water, one tablespoon at a time. Salt will help soften the vinegar taste, too.
Everyone says it needs to be tart to taste right over black eye peas or tossed with fried okra. I think I could have tossed in a fresh jalapeno pepper, just to have a little bigger kick to it. You try it out and let me know what you think.
How long will this keep in the fridge?? Thanks
Hi Debbie!
It’s keeps very well for up to 3 days.
What is the 2nd “teaspoon to taste” for?
DOH! Salt, that’s suppose to say SALT.
Thanks for catching that, Greg. ;D
i’m glad you did some anthropological digging and got this one down!
Made this tonight, and remembered that i grew up with it in nebraska… or something very similar at least. i really like it as is and everything, but it does feel like it needs a kick, so i gave it a couple extras. first, i zested and juiced a lime, getting all the pulpy juicy bits in there and it was really good like that. i splashed a couple three or four good shots of chipotle tabasco in there, and that was the thing. satisfied, i used it as a topping for a cilantro/lime/red pepper shrimp taco (just tortilla, shrimp and slang jane! SOOO GOOD.), and later on some salad with diced avocado and more of the CLR shrimp. just a few big scoops of Slang Jane and you don’t really need to cut up a bunch of tomatoes, onions, cucumber, etc, and you don’t need dressing, either! so that’s something i thought was cool, was if you wanted to drain off some of the liquid and use it as a dressing, you could- fat free and super low calorie as is, or you could add a little oil and maybe some cilantro or something.
OH SETH! I tell you what, YOU KNOW HOW TO COOK!
My stomach is growling for shrimp tacos now, and it’s 9:01 A.M.
Thanks, thanks a lot. ;D
Really, thank you for sharing you tips. I will be keeping them in mind the next time I make a batch of Slang Jane.
A reader commented on my site saying they were making my shrimp with your Slang Jane so of course I had to come here and see what they were talking about!
It’s funny, because in Latin America, where so many varieties of beans are eaten, they all make a similar topping for the rice and beans. In Colombia it’s called aji, which is cilantro, tomatoes, scallions, vinegar or lime juice and salt all chopped really fine.
I have still have tomatoes and cukes in my garden, I’m going to give this Texas version a try!
Hi Gina!
When you make aji, are the tomatoes swimming in the lime juice?
My aunt taught me to make a dish very similar to this a long time ago. She called it “Salad Shirazi”, but it’s the same except change the sugar and cider to fresh squeezed lime juice to taste. She would always use english cucumbers (peeled) because they have no seeds. I fell in love with it and have made it every single summer for years when tomatoes come into season (I live in Georgia). So delicious and so fresh! Makes me pine for summer!!
Oh, forgot to mention about the Salad Shirazi, my aunt’s husband is Iranian, so it could be a middle-eastern recipe. Also, you can add olive oil to taste (yum).