This recipe is a great way to use up cucumbers. Pickled cucumbers are traditionally served as an accompaniment with rice or sushi, but feel free to serve any way you like.
Easy Japanese Pickled Cucumber
2 or 3 Japanese cucumbers - if you can't find Japanese cucumbers, use one regular English cucumber
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Optional: wakame or hijiki seaweed, reconstituted in water, about 2 tablespoons
Wash the cucumbers and slice in thin coins. Place in a bowl and sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of salt on them, and set aside for five minutes. Rinse off the salt and drain the cucumbers.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Place in a lidded container and let sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours. They will be ready to eat then, but personally I find that their flavor mellows over time and I like to wait 3-4 days before eating.
Related: Recipe: Sour Cream Cucumber Salad with Mustard Seeds
(Image: Kathryn Hill)
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I know you put salt on the cucumbers to absorb the excess water out of them. However, the first (and only!) time I did that for a salad, I ended up with SUPER salty cucumbers - no matter how much I rinsed them, they were almost unbearably salty.
Where did I go wrong?
My dad has always made a similar salad, guerken salat I think? That is supposedly German, but it is essentially the same, thinly sliced cucumbers with a bit of salt, doused in rice wine vinegar and sesame oil (I have a feeling this recipe has made a departure from the original German recipe...), but it is one of my favorite salads, and often is a summertime dinner. Nice and cool, tangy... yummy!
we southerners make refrigerator pickles the same way -- cukes and sliced onion with apple cider vinegar, a pinch of sugar, S&P.
Salt doesn't absorb the excess water, it draws it out via osmosis and then is pulled back into the flesh to equalize the solution. This is the basic process of pickling.
As far as removing it, it depends solely on how long you allow the salt to sit on the cukes. If it's only for a few minutes, you will only draw the water out, and not much salt will penetrate back into the flesh. After about 20-30 mins, salt starts to get back into the flesh of the cuke, and you'll have to soak in water to get the salt back out.
Aha! Thank you for this post. It reminded me that I've been wanting to look up the recipe for Japanese pickled cucumbers. We had these at a sushi restaurant a couple of months ago and completely loved it. I know there's a name for it but I can't remember it for the life of me. I also hope that the grocery stores down here carry Japanese cucumbers. They are tiny and fun!
Thanks again.
Wow. How awesome is the origami crane chopstick holder in that picture!?!
Want!
Thanks for the recipe can't wait to make it. I used to love having pickled cucumber w/ tonkatsu :)
the momofuku cookbook suggests just tossing sliced cucumber with one part salt, two parts sugar.
Do this and in 15 minutes you'll have tangy pickles.
I've just made this recipe for an Asian themed dinner party. I am excited to see how it turns out!
Thanks, mejesster - I'll just have to remember not to leave it sit so long next time.
Technically, this is not a pickled dish. Pickles go through a fermentation process. Although tasty, this dish is not the same as Japanese pickled cucumber.
I just made your recipe and I did not have either of the cucumbers you mentioned so I used 7 baby hot house cucumbers sliced which equal to 3 cups of sliced cucumbers or you can use 7 persian cucumbers. I peeled the skin off only because the restaurants peel them. If you want less, you can use 5 baby hot house cucumbers/persian - peeled = 2 cups and use 6 tablespoons of Rice Vinegar because cucumbers have a lot of natural juice. Also, be sure to read Kathyrn's time on the salt. I sprinkled the 2 teaspons of SEA salt in but did not stir the cucumbers after sprinkling the salt on, and then rinse in cold water to remove excess salt while making sure to drain out all the water as this will make the cucubers soggy very quickly.
Thank you for the recipe Kathyrn, I can now make my own at home thanks to you dear. I will still enjoy them at our faviorite Japanese restaurant though.