Pickled vegetables are essential for Japanese style meal, and there are many regional specialities and national iconic products. I can’t have them where I live. If I want to eat them, I have to make something similar using the locally available ingredients. This ‘Soy Sauce Pickled Cucumber’, which is not very salty, tastes like a famous pickled Cucumber and makes me quite nostalgic.

Makes

4 Servings

Ingredients

1 Continental Cucumber *Today it weighed 300g
*Note: Choose a thinner and firm one with no seeds and no watery parts.
1/2 teaspoon Salt *optional

Marinade
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Sake (Rice Wine)
1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
2 teaspoons Sugar
1 small piece Ginger *cut into fine strips
Chilli Flakes as required

Method
  1. Cut Cucumber about 15mm thick and you need to dehydrate them. The salt-free option is drying. Place them on a tea towel and leave them under hot sun for a day.
  2. Alternatively, you can use Salt to remove water from the Cucumber. Place them in a bowl, add Salt and toss to combine well, then set aside for 1-2 hours.
  3. If you used Salt, drain Cucumber, discard the salty water. If you concern the salt-intake, quickly rinse with boiling water, then drain well.
  4. Place the marinade ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 1 minute. Remove form the heat, add Cucumber pieces to the hot marinade, combine well, and set aside to cool.
  5. As the amount of this marinade is very small, using a ziplock bag is the easiest option to marinate. Transfer the cooled Cucumber and the marinade into the bag, and remove the air, so that the Cucumber pieces can stay in this minimal amount of marinade.
  6. Otherwise, you need a right size jar or container to keep the Cucumber pieces in the marinade. Double the amount of marinade if necessary.
  7. Optional Extra Process: After marinating for a few hours, you would see more liquid in the bag as water has come out from Cucumber. Place the liquid in a saucepan, simmer for 1 minute again. Add Cucumber pieces to the hot marinade, combine well, and set aside to cool.
  8. Place them back in the bag, and marinate in the fridge for 1-2 days before you enjoy.