With just a few simple ingredients, you can make this recipe for crunchy and refreshing Japanese Pickled Cucumbers to serve alongside your meal.
Today I want to share the easy Japanese Pickled Cucumbers (Tsukemono) that you can make at home with ingredients you already have in the kitchen – salt and sugar (and preferably Japanese karashi mustard). There are so many ways to make Japanese pickles and this is just one recipe that we enjoy regularly at our house.
Varieties of Pickles in Japan
Tsukemono (漬物) or Japanese pickles are an essential part of the Japanese diet. They are served typically with a meal, alongside rice and miso soup. Pickles are used as a garnish, relish, or digestive food. It is also considered as a palate-cleansing side dish or we call Hashi Yasume (箸休め), literally meaning “chopstick rest” in Japanese.
Varieties of Tsukemono in Japan
Salt (shiozuke 塩漬け)
The simplest and most common types of pickles with the crisp texture and mild flavor of fresh vegetables. Pickled Japanese plums (umeboshi) used in onigiri (rice ball) are one example of the shiozuke.
Rice Bran (nukazuke 糠漬け)
Whole vegetables are fermented in a mixture of roasted rice bran (the hard outer skin of rice that is removed when polishing the rice grain), salt, kombu, and other ingredients from a day to several months. The pickles are crisp, salty, and tangy.
Sake Lees (kasuzuke 粕漬け)
Pickles preserved in a mixture of sake lees (the yeast mash that is left over after filtering sake), salt, sugar, and mirin ranging from several days to several years. The pickles have a strong alcohol flavor and smell especially when it’s pickled for a long time.
Soy Sauce (shoyuzuke 醤油漬け)
Pickles are preserved in soy sauce-based marinade and have various flavors. Some are light colors with crispy texture while others are dark colors with a salty and sweet taste. Fukujinzuke (relishes served with Japanese curry) is one example of shoyuzuke.
Vinegar (suzuke 酢漬け)
Pickles brined in rice vinegar resulting in a crunchy texture and sweet and sour flavor.
Miso (misozuke 味噌漬け)
Similar to nukazuke, this method uses similar vegetables like cucumbers, carrots, and eggplant. Whole vegetables are covered with miso. The pickles have salty complex miso flavor with a crisp texture.
What Kind of Cucumber to Use for Japanese Pickled Cucumbers
I recommend using Japanese cucumbers or Persian cucumbers to make this pickles recipe.
They’re crunchier and don’t have a lot of seeds in the middle. The cucumbers are best when you pickle them for 1-2 days, but you can certainly pickle for just a few hours. Cool, crisp with a nice crunch, these Japanese pickled cucumbers make a wonderful counterpart to any grilled dishes in the summer. Once you try it, you will be hooked.
If you don’t like cucumbers and prefer other alternatives, you can replace cucumbers with napa cabbage, cabbage, carrot, celery, turnip (kabu in Japanese), and eggplant. Depends on the vegetable, adjust the pickling time to your preferred taste. Choose a vegetable and enjoy making pickles to serve with rice this week.
Other Palate Cleansers
We eat pickles between dishes to change the flavors and textures of dishes and to refresh our palate. Besides pickles, Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), Sunomono (a light salad made with sweet and sour vinaigrette), Aemono (vegetable, meat, or seafood dressed up in some sauce), and Suimono (soup) are also considered Hashi Yasume.
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Japanese Pickled Cucumbers
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (0.4 oz, 10 g)
- 3 Tbsp sugar (1.1 oz, 30 g)
- ½ tsp Japanese karashi hot mustard (0.1 oz, 4 g; optional; you can substitute with Chinese mustard powder or Colman’s English mustard which are made from a hot, yellow variety of mustard seed similar to Japanese mustard)
- 3 Japanese or Persian cucumbers (9.2 oz, 261 g)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Combine 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 3 Tbsp sugar, and ½ tsp Japanese karashi hot mustard (optional) in the sealable plastic storage bag and mix well together.
- Cut ½ inch off the ends of 3 Japanese or Persian cucumbers. Rub the ends together to get rid of bitter taste.
- Put the cucumbers in the bag and squeeze out the air, close the bag tightly. Rub the cucumbers well with the mixture. Pickle for a few hours (my preferred taste) or up to 1–2 days in the refrigerator.
To Serve and Store
- When the cucumbers are ready, discard the liquid and slice the cucumber before serving. Store the cucumbers in the refrigerator and consume within 2–3 days after removing from the pickle solution.
Hi! I just tried this recipe with an english cucumber (I hope it soaks up enough flavor) but are there other vegetables that would work with this technique? Like radishes for example?
Thanks!
Hello, Emilie. Thank you so much for taking the time to read Nami’s post and try her recipe!
Yes. Other veggies such as radishes, carrots, Napa cabbage, eggplant, and others can be used.
Enjoy!
I made this yesterday. It was a little disappointing because the taste was just like fresh cucumbers. I marinated for one and half days. I used 3 Japanese cucumbers and followed the recipe. I used 1 tsp Morton regular table salt. I don’t think I tasted any hot mustard as well. Any thing could have gone wrong?
Hi Yang! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
We are sorry to hear that you are a little disappointed.
A recipe like this is so simple, and the quality of the ingredients makes a big difference in taste. We recommend trying a different salt next time.
Seas salt or kosher salt is the best and has more flavor than Iodized salt.
We hope this helps!
Do you rinse the pickled cucumbers before cutting?
Hi Steve! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
In general, you do not need to rinse it. However, if you prefer less salt taste, you can rinse it.
We hope this helps!
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Hello There, I would like to ask, say if I like the taste on day 2. Can I remove it from the seasoning brine and store it in a container? and How long after can it last in the fridge?
Also, I would assume the liquid cannot be recycled to pickle another batch yes?
Thanks lots!
Hi gibson, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
Yes, you can remove the pickled from the seasoning brine and store it in an air-tight container, then place them in the fridge for up to 2~3 days.
We recommend discarding the liquid. We hope this helps!
Hi. Love your recipes, but confused by this. Did I miss something, or is there literally *no* rice vinegar at all in this recipe? It seems counterintuitive to call it a pickle without any vinegar acidity they when you but into them. Confused!
Hi Paul, Yes! No rice vinegar in this recipe. In Japan, they have many different types of Tsukemono (pickled).
This pickled is called “Asazuke,” meaning “Quick pickle,” and you can store only a few days due to the lower salt content.
Hi Paul, pickle (pickling) just refers to the process of preserving. When vegetables are salted, they release liquid. This brine is what preserves the vegetable (think kimchi and sauerkraut). There are also pickled vegetables that use vinegar as part of the brine (think store bought pickled cucumbers). So, she is correct in calling this a quick pickle. Hope this helps.
Thank you. The Asian stores in my town do not sell Japanese pickles.
Hi Lsnce! Nami has many Pickled recipes! https://www.justonecookbook.com/search/?q=pickles
We hope you enjoy them!☺️
Question: American pickles remain edible for a long time…. this recipe says they will keep for a few days. What is the difference in the two styles in terms of shelf life????? I do plan to make as it sounds so refreshing!
Hi Marge, These types of pickles are meant for “quick pickling” (It called Asazuke in Japanese), and salt is only used about 4%. If you want to keep it for a long time, you need about 10% salt or add vinegar to pickled. We hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
I tried printing the recipe out but the amount of sugar and salt in the printed copy is different than the one you have online. It says 0.5 tsp of salt and 0.75 tbsp of sugar whereas the online recipe card says 2 tsp of salt and 3 tbsp of sugar. I have not read the other comments so I don’t know if someone already pointed this out to you. I love the recipe though- followed the online recipe card.
Hi Zana,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
It looks like, when you try to print out this recipe, the servings amount had changed somehow.
Please adjust the servings amount on the header on the print page using the +/- button. It should automatically adjust the amount of the ingredients for you.
We hope this helps!
Grew up eating these kinds of pickles at family gatherings and me and my brother are excited to try making them!
Any substitution recommendations for the sugar? We try not to use any processed sugar in our cooking so would be great if we can figure out an alternative.
With Gratitude,
Pete
Hi Peter! Try different cucumber recipes?
https://www.justonecookbook.com/japanese-pickled-cucumber/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pickled-cucumbers/
Great recipe.
I like the production value of the video, especially the music. My kind of vibraharp jazz.
Thank you so much for your kind words. 😀 I hesitate to watch my old videos. xD