Taiwanese Soy and Vinegar Pickled Cucumber | 臺式醬瓜

A popular pickle recipe in Taiwan, it is fast and simple to make. Salty, crunchy, sweet and slightly sour, Taiwanese love eating these pickles with congee or turn them into a variety of savory dishes. Try this 4-ingredient recipe before the cucumbers are gone!

These pickles are dark-colored, but flavorful and crunchy. I find this recipe awesome for those end-of-season, not so pretty cucumbers that’s left, since the dark color covers up the ugliness of the skin.

Pickled cucumber in soy sauce, 醬瓜(jiang4gua1), is also called crunchy pickle(脆瓜, cui4gua1), for it’s crunchiness. I wasn’t going to write about this pickle because this is something that you’ll find at every supermarket and even 7-11, it is so common that I thought that they would have it at the Asian store. Unfortunately Asian store here doesn’t carry this and I was craving it like a crazy person.

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When I was a kid, one of my favorite breakfast is congee, and this pickle was my favorite side dish to go with it. Summer in Taiwan is hot and humid which the cucumbers love, they grow so fast that no one could eat them in time so people turn them into pickles so they can eat them all-year long and create different dishes with the pickle like “Pickle Meatloaf” (瓜子肉, gua1zi3rou4), or “Chicken stew with pickle” (瓜子雞湯, gua1zi3ji1tang1). The flavors are amazing, and they were memories from my childhood.

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When looking for cucumbers to make the pickle, look for firm, smaller cucumbers so it stays crunchy after it’s cooked. When cooking the cucumbers, we want them to cook, but still stay crunchy so it should not be cooked for too long. Don’t chop the cucumbers too small since they won’t be as crunchy if they are, 0.5″ pieces are good, but slightly larger pieces are ok too, you can also use those tiny little cucumbers you find at the farmers market for this recipe, just use the whole thing.

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This recipe only takes 10 minutes to make and 3 days for the flavors to seep in the cucumbers then they are ready to eat!

 

Pickled Cucumber in Soy Sauce

  • Difficulty: Easy
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A popular pickle recipe in Taiwan, it is fast and simple to make. Salty, crunchy, sweet and slightly sour, Taiwanese love eating these pickles with congee or turn them into a variety of savory dishes. Try this 4-ingredient recipe before the cucumbers are gone!

Ingredients

20171016.Taiwanese-Soy-and-Vinegar-Pickled-Cucumber臺式醬瓜_Resize-3.jpg

  • 8 Medium size cucumbers, Chopped into 0.5″ pieces
  • 1C Soy Sauce
  • 1C Sugar
  • 2/3C Vinegar (I used Apple Cider, white wine vinegar works too)

Directions

  1. On medium heat, bring the sauce to a simmer
    • 1C Soy Sauce
    • 1C Sugar
    • 2/3C Vinegar (I used Apple Cider)
  2. Add the chopped cucumber to the sauce and stir
  3. Cook until the cucumbers are colored, but not too long so they stay crunchy, about 3 mins
  4. Remove cucumbers from the sauce to a plate to let cool
  5. Pour the sauce and cucumbers into a sanitized jar and seal
  6. Put the pickle in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 3 days before consuming

 

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