Ingredients used in the pictured version:

1kg baby pickling onions
7 small red birds eye chilli peppers - vary these to taste - more if you like spicy - or less!
70 gms finely sliced raw ginger root
1 head/bulb garlic peeled and separated, but leave the garlic cloves whole
1 dessert spoon salt
2 dessert spoon black pepper corns
A sprinkle of white pepper
A sprinkle of powdered Chinese Five Spice
1 cup water
315 ml Cider Vinegar
4 dessert spoons soft brown sugar - vary to taste - or for dietary requirements use a sugar supplement.

While preparing this recipe - time your the sterilizing of your pickling jars to ensure they are still warm when you are ready to use them - go on-line for a number of different ways to  sterilize jars!

Method for Pickling:

-Put all ingredients in a saucepan or pickling pan big enough to hold them and the liquid

• Peel the brown skin from the onions
• Wash the chilli peppers
• Peel and slice the ginger root
• Separate and peel the garlic cloves but leave them whole
  
• Add Salt, Black and White Pepper and Chinese Five Spice
• Add the cup of water (save the vinegar and sugar for after this first stage of simmering)

simmer for no more than 4 to 5 minutes the intent of this first session is to soften the vegetable just a fraction!

At the end of this time add the vinegar and sugar - the sugar will stop the vegetables from softening further - you want to have some crunch left in them!  Bring the saucepan contents back to the boil and let them simmer gently for another 5 minutes.

With a heat proof scoop lift the vegetable out of the saucepan and put straight into the warm pickling storage jars (never let the vegetables cool down as this could allow bacteria to develop).

Top each jar to the rim with the pickling liquid still hot and seal the lids straight away - be very careful not to scald yourself doing this - and it is recommended that you sit the jars in a sink to fill them.  Lift them out when sealed - with a clean kitchen towel and sit on another towel until they cool - then store them in the fridge for ease of access and enjoyment - they should keep for at least a month if not longer.