Easy Japanese Pickled Cucumber Recipe - Explore Cook Eat (2024)

FAQs

Are Japanese pickled cucumbers good for you? ›

In addition to the dietary fiber, tsukemono contains functional ingredients for health such as vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols, along with GABA, inulin and isothiocyanate, which have also drawn attention.

The next step is to make a saltwater solution and soak your cucumbers for a minimum of 12 hours (up to 7 days). The beauty of soaking your cucumbers is that you don't need to be ready to make pickles right when you pick your cucumbers (or bring them home from the market).

A pickled cucumber – commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and traditionally a gherkin (/ɡərkɪn/) in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand – is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or other solution and left to ferment.

How Do Cucumbers Become Pickles? The main process at work here is fermentation. Cucumbers are submerged in a saltwater brine or vinegar; with time (anywhere from several days to even months), those cucumbers will turn into pickles.

If you're on a low-sodium diet, pickles should not be consumed on a regular basis, says Zumpano. People with high blood pressure, heart failure, or kidney or liver disease should only enjoy pickles as a once-in-a-while treat, says Largeman-Roth. Always talk to your doctor if you have concerns.

Fights inflammation: The antioxidants in pickles can help reduce inflammation in the body, which is linked to various chronic diseases.

Soaking is to rehydrate the cucumbers in case they have softened at all from loss of water. This is more likely to have happened with purchased cukes. Home grown cukes should be crisp without soaking if they are picked in the cool of the morning on the day they will be used.

Better yet, grow them in the garden and ferment the day you pick them! Tasting the stem end can give you a sense of whether the pickle will be bitter since that's the end where bitterness concentrates. Soaking your cucumbers in ice water 30-60 minutes before fermenting seems to help keep crispness.

You will need a recipe, most of which will tell you to salt your sliced cucumbers and let them sit for about 3 hours (more is better). This salt treatment draws water out of the cucumbers and flavors them, so it's critically important.

Most pickle recipes call for distilled white vinegar. This is the clear, colorless vinegar made by fermenting grains. It has a mellow aroma, tart acid flavor and does not affect the color of light-colored vegetables or fruits.

What does cucumbers and vinegar do to your body? ›

Aid weight loss.

Cucumber pickles are a low-calorie food. Because of their high water content, they may help you feel fuller longer. Pickles also contain vinegar, which has been linked to reduced appetite. Vinegar may slow the rate at which your digestive system absorbs carbohydrates.

The basic ratio for quick pickles is 1:1 vinegar to water, and includes some combination of salt and sugar. Another ratio that is commonly followed is the 3:2:1 method, using three parts vinegar, two parts water, and 1 part sugar.

Understand the average number of cucumbers per jar

On average, a pint-size jar can hold approximately 4 to 6 pickling cucumbers, while a quart-size jar can hold around 8 to 12 pickling cucumbers.

These pickles are not cooked or processed, so you do want to soften them a little bit so that they really absorb the flavor of the brine. To do this, place your prepped cucumbers in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and sugar, and massage gently for a few minutes until they begin to give up some liquid and get a bit pliable.

While any cucumber can be pickled, pickling cucumbers, or Kirby cucumbers, work best. They have bumpy, spiny skins, are never waxed, and range in color from pale yellow to dark green. Burpless cucumbers are the sweetest type of cucumber. They have thin skins, are easier to digest, and are practically seedless.

It depends on the base ingredients of course, but fermented and pickled foods are generally high in many vitamins and minerals and excellent for your gut health. Many Japanese pickled products are less “pickle”-ish than their Western counterparts, so are often brighter and fresher tasting.

Japanese cucumbers are an excellent source of vitamins K, A, and C, folic acid, potassium, and silica, which is a trace mineral that helps strengthen connective tissue. Japanese cucumbers in pickled form are an essential component in Japanese cuisine.

The Japanese cucumber has several advantages over common cucumbers. It is slender, thin-skinned, void of developed seeds, never bitter and entirely edible. The average harvested length is about four inches, while the cucumber is still young. Its skin is forest green and smooth with longitudinal grooves.

Cabbage, radishes, onions, carrots, beets—the limit does not exist. And they're all great for the gut. Here's more about the best plant-based pickled foods, why they're beneficial for our health, and how to enjoy them in vegan recipes.