Karl’s Pickled Japanese Cucumbers III

Based on a www.thekitchn.com recipe

In this variation I was reminder of a couple of technique by Nami’s Just One Cookbook. When you are making pickled vegetables you can play with more than just the flavors.  If all of your pickles are the same shape it is just boring.  The visual appearance of the dishes is a very important ingredient in Japanese Cuisine.

Cucumbers, being a long thin cylinder, may be cut in a wide variety of ways.  You can use a knife or vegetable peeler to make paper thin slices.  Slice the cucumber into any number of round slices from coins to chunks.  You can slice it on the diagonal to make oval planks or cut the cucumber in half to make a half moon shape.

Nami reminded me of the Chinese cutting technique called roll cutting. First you cut a diagonal chunk off one end of the cucumber.  You then roll the vegetable about a third of a turn towards you and make a second diagonal cut. The piece you cut off will be wedge shape on one side and rounded on the other.  Trying to keep the size of each chunk the same, continue rolling and cutting until you are finished with the cucumber.

Nami also reminded me that there is an alternative to either peeling or not peeling the skin.  Use a vegetable peeler and take a length wise strip off of the cucumber.  Rotate the vegetable about a third of a turn and repeat.  Rotate again and take off a third strip.  When you are finished roll cutting, the rounded sides of your chunks will have random streaks of green to give your pickles more interest and individuality.

Karl’s Pickled Japanese Cucumbers III

Ingredients

3 or 4 Japanese cucumbers
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
¼ tsp. Nanami Togarashi (a Japanese chili pepper blend)

2 Tbs. black sesame seeds

Directions

1. Wash the cucumbers and peel length wise strips off of the cucumber so that it alternates white and green. Roll cut to make about ¾ inch chunks. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of salt on them, and set aside for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

2. Combine next 3 ingredients in a small pot and bring to a low boil.

3. Rinse the salt off the cucumbers in hot tap water and drain.

4. Add the cucumbers to a lidded container and pour the contents of the pot the over them. Let cool and then place the container in refrigerator for at least 12 hours. They will be ready to eat then, but their flavor will improve over time.