Cucumber Pickle with Soy Sauce

I have tried several cucumber pickle recipes from the web including "bread and butter" pickle, "kosher dills pickle" and "sweet pickle". I also made Korean salted pickle which you let them ferment a bit. Even though I yet to taste a couple of pickles that I made, so far my favorite is a fresh pickle made with soy sauce.

Below is the list of ingredients. You could omit garlic or ginger or even red onion but I like them all in the pickle. Onion slices will be edible after 3-4 days while garlic and ginger will stay pungent for a longer time.

• 4 Asian variety cucumbers, each 11-12 inch long
• 1 small red onion
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 inch ginger, sliced

Here are the steps:

1. Cut the cucumbers to 1/8 inch thickness. I peeled the skins because the cucumbers were old, but if you are using fresh ones, leave the skin on.
2. Slice the onion and mix with cucumber slices then put them in a jar.
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients (soy sauce, vinegar, water, sugar, garlic, ginger) in a pot and bring to boil. Pour the hot liquid into the jar.
4. Keep the pickles refrigerated and eat after one or two days. Will keep easily for two weeks if kept refrigerated.

Just like my cucumber Kimchi, I sort of made up the recipe based on what I ate before, and I think it tastes pretty good. I don't think it would appeal to everyone, but if you like Asian style food, you will love it.

I wanted to borrow bread-and-butter pickle method of canning so that I can properly can this soy sauce pickle and keep it for the winter time. When I tried, the pickles turned out too soft. I will keep experimenting and let you know if I find a way to make this pickle for canning.