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Japanese Pickled Cucumbers?
2 different styles of pickles
For traditional Japanese cuisine, pickles are a very important element.
Although, the very first history is unclear, it is said that similar things existed 3000 years ago! And in medieval times, there were already many kinds of pickles to help preserve vegetables.
There are two different styles for pickles in Japan
- Asazuke (Short-term, a few hours to 2 days)
- Nukazuke (Long-term, at least 1 month)
And today's recipe is in asazuke category as it's quick and easy at home.
Popular flavours for pickled cucumbers in Japan
These days, people make pickles with different flavours (some of them are interesting)
For example:
- Beer
- Japanese Mustard
- Chilli
- Wasabi...etc
Pickles as drinkers' favourites
Even though it's simple, pickles are one of the most popular beer snacks in Japan.
Proper drinkers always opt for pickles rather than heavy snacks and yes, it does go well with beer because of the strong salty taste.
Or people like to have pickles as a side or with plain white rice too!
Wasabi pickled cucumbers
Wasabi pickled cucumbers are one of my favourites.
It has the distinctive spiciness of wasabi with nicely sweet flavour of standard Japanese pickle.
It's easy and flavourful, I recommend to have it with beer or on the side of a teishoku set meal! 🙂
I use S&B Wasabi paste in my recipe, you can purchase it on Amazon.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Japanese pickles called?
It's called Tsukemono (漬物).
Are Japanese pickles fermented?
Some of them are, some of them aren't. There are two different types of Japanese pickles:
- Asaduke (浅漬け): Lightly pickled
- Nukaduke (ぬか漬け): Rice bran pickles
The first ones are not fermented, and the latter is mostly fermented in the process.
Check out our step by step video
Print
Japanese Wasabi Pickled Cucumbers (きゅうりのわさび漬け）
- Total Time: 5 minutes
Description
How to make Japanese Wasabi Pickled Cucumbers with a spicy kick!
Ingredients
- 500g Cucumbers
- 65g Sugar
- 20g Salt
- 20g (1 tbsp) Wasabi paste
Instructions
- Wash the cucumber and cut off each end.
- Cut up the cucumber into large chucks (or slice long ways if you prefer). Make sure to keep the skin on.
- Put the cut up cucumber into a large zip lock bag.
- Add 65g sugar, 20g of salt and 20g wasabi paste.
- Rub the ingredients all over the cucumber, try and make sure all of the cucumber is covered. You can do this from the outside of the zip lock bag, there's no need to get your hands dirty!
- Once it's covered, seal the bag and leave in the fridge for 12 hours before eating.
- You can transfer to a airtight jar if you prefer.
- Keep refrigerated and eat within 1 week.
- Enjoy as a side with a kick!
Notes
This recipe makes enough for about 6 side dish servings.
- Prep Time: 5
- Category: Sides
- Method: Pickling
- Cuisine: Japanese
Keywords: pickled cucumber,cucumber pickles,Japanese wasabi cucumber,Japanese style pickled cucumber,Japanese wasabi pickled cucumber recipe
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