Most Asian people––most people––are familiar with pickled vegetables. But what they represent, at least for the Chinese, has changed over the years. In the old days, pickles were considered a poor man’s meal, since there’s no oil or fat, or 油水 (you-shui). But now that most meals in China–and elsewhere for that matter–are overflowing with oil and fat, pickled vegetables, and most recently, Chinese pickled cucumbers, have been elevated to a palate cleanser. Or, if someone is feeling under the weather, a little bit of pickled vegetable is often used as an appetite enhancer. A far cry from the old days, no?
Today I’m proudly adding this recipe for Chinese Pickled Cucumbers to our culinary genealogy. This is actually my first attempt at making any kind of Chinese pickled vegetables, so I chose a straightforward recipe. Despite being simple to make, these Chinese Pickled Cucumbers are delicious–and crunchy! It’s too bad these photos don’t provide much by way of conveying texture or sound, so you’ll have to take my word for it. These pickles are almost like eating potato chips!
Maybe that is my inner health nut talking, but really, these pickles go great with congee, oatmeal, maybe even a sandwich, or just to cleanse your palate between courses! Plus, this recipe is not only quick to make––it’s gone in a hurry, too.
Now that I’ve tackled Chinese pickled cucumbers, I feel an urgency to tackle the secrets and inner workings of even more Chinese pickled vegetable recipes like pickled long beans, pickled chilies, pickled mustard greens, etc., no matter how complicated they are! You’ll all have a front row seat to my successes (and failed attempts).
Living in a world where even milliseconds are too long to wait, we all seem to have almost no time and even less patience. Like one reader recently commented: “I truly wish that double tapping your photo also meant the dish would appear on my table!” I too live in hope that one day food will magically appear on tables just like it does in the Harry Potter movies.
But the more we learn to expect instant gratification, the less patience we have. I’m afraid that these “slow” pickling methods are being forgotten and will soon be lost forever to the home cook, and replaced entirely by generic factory pickles. Who wants that?! That said, I’ve got a lot of work to do. But before I take on the Herculean task of the world of Chinese pickles, let’s enjoy this simple pickled cucumber recipe first!
You’ll need:
- 3 English/hothouse cucumbers (best to use seedless cucumber for this)
- 3 teaspoons sugar, divided
- 1½ teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 dried chili peppers (de-seeded), optional
Rinse off the cucumbers and wipe them dry. Trim off both ends, and cut each cucumber into 4 equal sections. Cut each section into 6 equal-sized strips.
Transfer to a bowl and add ½ teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
At the same time, make the sauce by combining 2 ½ teaspoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon black vinegar, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon dark soy sauce, 2 bay leaves, 4 cloves of garlic, and the chili peppers. Stir and make sure the sugar and salt are completed dissolved.
Once the cucumber has marinated for 1 hour in the fridge, dump out the liquid from the bowl they were sitting in. You should be able to get rid of at least ¼ cup of liquid.
Now add the prepared sauce, and mix everything well. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
The cucumbers should be ready to serve the next morning with a hot bowl of congee!
Chinese Pickled Cucumbers (酱黄瓜)
Ingredients
- 3 English/hothouse cucumbers (best to use seedless cucumber for this)
- 3 teaspoons sugar (divided)
- 1½ teaspoons salt (divided)
- 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cloves garlic (smashed)
- 3 dried chili peppers (de-seeded, optional)
Instructions
- Rinse off the cucumbers and wipe them dry. Trim off both ends, and cut each cucumber into 4 equal sections. Cut each section into 6 equal-sized strips. Transfer to a bowl and add ½ teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- At the same time, make the sauce by combining 2 ½ teaspoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon black vinegar, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon dark soy sauce, 2 bay leaves, 4 cloves of garlic, and the chili peppers. Stir and make sure the sugar and salt are completed dissolved.
- Once the cucumber has marinated for 1 hour in the fridge, dump out the liquid from the bowl they were sitting in. You should be able to get rid of at least ¼ cup of liquid. Now add the prepared sauce, and mix everything well. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. The cucumbers should be ready to serve the next morning with a hot bowl of congee!
Nutrition
Spire says
It may help readers to amend your recipe by updating the ingredient you call “dark Chinese vinegar” to “black vinegar”.
If you do a search for one vs the other, “black vinegar” is ubiquitous, well known, and a commonly used term in recipes and to label the ingredient. As it is worded now, it is vague and confusing.
Even the link you use refers to the product as black vinegar.
Sarah says
Thanks for your strongly worded critique! I agree that it would be best to standardize the terms that we use, black vinegar included. I have updated about a dozen recipes using that terminology with the term “black vinegar.”
Rinn says
These look delicious! Thank you for the recipe. Can’t wait to try them. :)
Judy says
Please do try, it’s easy enough :-)
Ling says
This was really easy and very tasty even my 2 year old enjoyed them! Was a bit too garlicky so I’ll reduce next time and use more vinegar as it wasn’t quite sharp enough for me.
Will definitely make again! thanks for the great recipe!
Judy says
So glad you like it, Ling! Thank you for commenting :-)
Anna Filk says
Can i use just dark soy sauce and reg rice vngr? How much of each do u recommend to substitute? Thanks
Judy says
Hi Anna, you will need more than dark soy sauce and regular rice vinegar to make a dish taste good. But please give me more ingredients so I can better assist you ;-)
Anna Filk says
Sorry i wasn’t specific. I mean can i use dark soy sauce instead of light? and rice vngr instead of dark chinese vngr? of course i plan to use all other ingredients in the recipe just these two i wonder about? Thanks.
Judy says
Hi Anna, I use Pearl River Bridge brand dark soy sauce and it’s really dark and not that salty, so I wouldn’t use it for this recipe. But you can use rice vinegar instead of dark Chinese vinegar.
valerie greenough says
love your pickled cabbage recipe.
Judy says
Thank you, Valerie.
Lulu says
About 45 years ago when I was a child my father took us to a Chinese restaurant every Friday night. One of our main staples would be a recipe called Beef and Gherkin. (Gherkins being small cucumbers.) This dish was a firm favourite but I have never seen it in the last 30 years on any menu.
I have searched for it online, looking for a dish that resembled it. These gherkins had taken on a near-transparent look, were dark green and had the most amazing texture. They were nearly like a glazed cherry in texture but they were deep green and not overly sweet.
Have you any idea about these? Would you one day be able to tell us how to make them? Or tell me where you find them? Or the name of them in Chinese?
Judy says
Hi Lulu, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of much help. I have no idea what the dish you’re describing here could be. I will definitely let you know if I come across it.
Elina says
I think maybe you’re talking about beef and winter melon (冬瓜)
Rachel Hobbs says
Is there anything I can use as a substitute for the dark Chinese vinegar? My town doesn’t have an Asian Grocery store and I won’t be driving into Toronto anytime soon and I’m having a hankering for some crunchy pickled cucumbers!
Judy says
Hi Rachel, you can use a good quality balsamic vinegar until you go Asian food shopping :-)
Rachel Hobbs says
Thanks! :D
Colin says
I’m really glad I found your site.
Thank you for the recipes. I intend to try this one out next.
I appreciate your work.
Judy says
Thank you, Colin. Hope you like it.
Christian says
This pickled cucumbers where very tasty. I served them as a side dish for hainanese chicken rice and it was a perfect match.
Judy says
Hi Christian, what a smart combo, how come I didn’t think of it? Two thumbs up!