Zigong Well Salt for Pickling (Set of 2)

Mala Market exclusive The key ingredient for a pickling brine is salt, and while kosher salt or any iodide-free salt will work for fermentation, serious Sichuan picklers will use nothing but their local Zigong well salt.  This legendary salt comes from brine deep under the ground in Zigong, Sichuan, site of the world’s very first brine wells, drilled in 252 B.C.! (Mark Kurlansky's fascinating book "Salt: A World History" spends a lot of pages on Zigong and its revolutionary well drilling.) While the original wells are no longer open (other than one historical demonstration well), this refined salt is still made by drilling for underground brine in Zigong. In fact, Zigong's deep drilling and well-salt production techniques are one of the few foods in China recognized as National Intangible Cultural Heritage. For literally millennia, Sichuan cooks have sworn by this salt, for its taste, purity, nutrients and, in the modern era, its lack of added iodide and anti-caking agents, which they