When we serve a Japanese Ichiju Sansai (one soup three dishes) style meal, there’s always one or two kinds of pickled vegetables as part of the set. The pickles are considered as a palette cleanser and are enjoyed between dishes. In Japan, you can find a great variety of pickles being sold at the grocery stores or the supermarket. Here in the US, I often make my own quick pickles or what we call Asazuke (浅漬け), with vegetables that are readily available such as cucumbers and cabbage. They are easy and versatile, and today let’s make Spicy Japanese Pickled Cucumbers (ピリ辛きゅうりの浅漬け)!
How to Make Spicy Japanese Pickled Cucumbers
Ingredients You’ll Need
Japanese or Persian cucumbers – why this variety? Read below. Salt The pickle solution: soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and la-yu (Japanese chili oil) Toasted white sesame seeds
What’s La-Yu?
La-yu (辣油, ラー油) is a Japanese chili oil. Japanese don’t really have many spicy dishes, but we use a few dollops of la-yu in some dishes when we want to create some heat.
Overview Steps
It’s seriously simple yet packed with a lot of punch!
3 Key Tips To Pickle Cucumbers
Tip #1: Use Japanese or Persian cucumbers
These varieties have less seeds in the center of the cucumber, so when you pickle the cucumbers, they don’t release much moisture and dilute the solution.
Tip #2: Cut the cucumber using “Rangiri” method
Here I slice the vegetable diagonally while rotating the vegetable a quarter (or 45 degrees) between cuts so every cut is random. This Japanese cutting style is called Rangiri (乱切り) and it creates more surface; therefore the cucumbers can absorb more flavors.
3. Salt the cucumbers to withdraw moisture
Don’t worry about sodium here. To pickle the vegetables well, you need the salt to first withdraw some moisture out of the cucumber so it can better absorb the seasonings later.
What to Serve with Spicy Japanese Pickled Cucumbers
It pairs well with many mains and can be served as a snack too, and here are just my recommendations:
Miso Chicken Chicken Katsu Nikujaga (Meat and Potato Stew) Simmered Beef with Ginger (Shigureni) Kurobuta Pork Chop with Miso Sauce Butadon (Pork Donburi) Teriyaki Salmon Poke Bowl
Pickles usually contrast in flavor, texture, and temperature to the main dish. They cleanse your palate and give a break between dishes. Hope you enjoy this homemade side dish! Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on April 22, 2011. The post has been updated with new images and blog content in September 2021.
