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
Little Cooking Tips says
Hi guys!
We don’t know about congee, but we’d LOVE to slice and add some of those in our ground turkey-thigh burgers, that’s for sure!:) They’d add a delicious “Chinese flavor” to the burgers;) We’re both huge fans of cucumbers ourselves, and not that they’re in season we often have them with a few drops of vinegar and salt as a light guilt-less snack:) So, as you realize, we fell in love with your fantastic Chinese version!
Sending you all our love,
Mirella and Panos
Judy says
Yeahhhhh…group hug! Thank you so much, Mirella and Panos.
Blaine says
Persian Cucumbers worked out PERFECT for this. Had to make it twice so my GF could try them.
Judy says
Hi Blaine, I assume you liked it :-)
Harvey Lobo-Chan says
Thanks for this recipe! Cucumbers will be great for summer meals. There’s this great cucumber cold dish at our favorite xiao long bao place that has a lot of garlic. Can more garlic be added to this recipe to mimic that?
Judy says
Hi Harvey, believe it or not, this dish is pretty garlicky as Bill said “it might be too garlicky for some people”. Try it first as is, add more garlic if it does not meet your “expectation” :-)
Julie Fox says
Can’t wait for the mustard green pickles. I used to get them in SF with Dim Sum. A very clean refreshing taste!
Judy says
Fingers crossed that I can execute it.
Cathy Thomas says
Looking forward to trying these!! Request…many years ago, a NJ restaurant called Taiwan Noodle House used to start meals with complementary pickled cabbage. It had carrots in it too, and it was crunchy, a bit sweet, a bit spicy and very memorable…If you can find a recipe, I will be very thankful!
Judy says
Got it, Cathy! I know what you are talking about.
Alice says
I second that request. The Szechuan place we go to has these pickles, spicy, crunchy, savory. I’d love to make them; they never give us enough.
Judy says
Ok, got it, Alice :-)
Wenderella says
Hello family, I will do this recipe.
I went to China recently (best place EVER), and on an internal flight ate a little packet of fantastic pickled vegetables as part of my meal. They were truly delicious, as was the meal in general – beef noodles, a side salad of celery and wood ear fungus, along with the aforementioned little packet of pickled vegetables. The vegetables were sliced up, pickled with a warm heat and mild sourness, and contained something from the cabbage family and possibly radish and onion.
Since then I have eaten a condiment labeled “Sichuan vegetables” in a hotel catering for Chinese tourists here in New Zealand. They were similar in flavour to my little packet. I would especially like it if your next pickle efforts were in pursuit of a simple Sichuan vegetables recipe! :-)
Judy says
Hahahaha…I will do my best :-)
Irene says
Hi Wenderella, I am pretty sure what you had in the small package on the flight, as you described being from the cabbage family, is Zha Cai (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zha_cai). It was almost a staple back in the days when we had few things to go with our white rice or congee. It is still very popular today.
Christine says
Do you rinse off the cucumber after its done marinating?
Judy says
No, Christine, you don’t wash off the sauce.
Kathie says
I prefer to eat cucumbers without the peeling. Would this recipe work as well if I peeled the cucumbers before pickling them? We love pickled cucumbers and fix them by a Japanese recipe as well as a German one. I can’t wait to try your Chinese recipe. It sounds delicious!
Judy says
Hi Kathie, yes, you can peel the cucumbers.
Sarah Morgan says
How long do these cucumbers keep in the refrigerator?
Carlton Yee says
Good Question. Can’t eat them all in a short sitting.
Judy says
Hi Carlton, you can keep them in the refrigerator for about a week. Just remember to take out what you will eat each time with A CLEAN UTENSIL. Cross-contamination will shorten shelf life for sure.
Judy says
Hi Sarah, you can keep them in the refrigerator for about a week. Just remember to take out what you will eat each time with A CLEAN UTENSIL. Cross-contamination will cause them to go bad.
Jodi Fortner says
Hi family…
Could you please explain dried Hokkien noodles?
Just Taiwanese dried wheat noodles?
They are described as “Bang Tiao Au Noodle.
As always, keep up the great work!
Bill says
Hi Jodie, Hokkien noodles are very similar to lo mein noodles and are made from wheat flour/starch. They do seem thicker and a bit chewier, though. You usually find these noodles in mee goreng at a good malaysian restaurant.