These Asian-style pickled cucumbers are incredibly crunchy, tangy, and refreshing! I love pairing them with super savoury or fatty dishes for a wonderful balance. The ginger, garlic, and chilli provide the dish with a kick, making it the perfect side dish.
Click HERE to check out how I like to use them in my chicken teriyaki sandwich meal prep recipe!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 Cucumbers
- 2tsp Salt
- 1-2 Thai Bird’s Eye Chilli
- 1 Clove of Garlic
- 1 Chunk of Fresh Ginger (as much or as little as you would like, I usually go for a big cube the length of my thumb)
- 1tsp White Sugar
- 1/2tsp Salt
- 1/2tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- 1tbsp Sesame Oil
- 12tbsp (170ml) Apple Cider Vinegar (you can also use rice wine or distilled)
STEPS:
- Slice the cucumbers thinly.
- Add them to a large bowl with 2tsp of salt. Toss the cucumbers so it’s evenly coated and set them aside for 20min.
- Slice the chillis thinly and add them to a large container.
- Then using a microplane, grate in the garlic and ginger.
- Add the sugar, 1/2tsp salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, and apple cider vinegar. Give it a mix, give it a taste, then adjust the ingredients to your liking! Set this aside while we work on the cucumbers.
- After 20min of sitting in the salt, there should be cucumber juices sitting in the bottom of the bowl that have been extracted by the salt. Rinse it under water to remove the excess salt then drain it.
- Taste the cucumber slice. If it is perfectly salted, drain and squeeze as much of the liquid out of the cucumbers then add them to the container with the garlic and ginger pickling liquid. If it is too salty, leave it in some cold water for a few minutes and it will wash away some of that salt. You do want the cucumbers to have a little saltiness to them. Drain the excess liquid, squeeze out as much of it as possible and add it to the container.
- Give the cucumbers a shake so it’s evenly distributed in the pickling liquid and leave it overnight to pickle.
STORAGE & TIPS:
- Leave it in the pickling liquid in an airtight container. Use clean utensils to take the cucumbers out when you want to eat them and leave the rest in the fridge. The flavours will get infused into the cucumbers and will be good for at least a week (and longer).
- WHY SALT THEM BEFORE PICKLING: By removing the excess cucumber liquid you are helping the vegetable stay crunch for longer, the water won’t dilute the pickling liquid, and it won’t go bad as quickly.
