refrigerator pickles

fast & tasty

When I studied acupuncture (many, many years ago), Dr. So’s wife used to bring him lunch. Often it included her homemade pickles. After sharing them with me, I asked for the recipe. It took me awhile but I finally got it from here and I make it to this day.

While you can use regular salad cucumbers, I usually make it with smaller pickling cukes. They’re seasonal and too cute to pass up.

A batch is 4-6 small pickling cucumbers or 1 large one. Wash the cukes and trim of both ends. Cut them into 1/2" slices. If you use full-sized cucumbers, scoop out the seeds too.

Sprinkle 2 tsps of salt on the sliced cucumbers and let them sit for 5-10 minutes. Then rinse them off in cold water. This draws water out of them but be sure to rinse them well so they aren’t overly salty.

Mix 4 Tbsp rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1/4 tspn of salt. You can add 1-2 cloves of sliced garlic, a bit of red pepper, and/or a piece of lemon zest.

Add the rinsed cucumber slices and put them in a non-reactive container (glass or plastic). Store in the refrigerator overnight, shaking every time you open the door to grab a beer.

In a pinch, you can make these in the morning and they'll be ready by dinnertime. They’ll keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. This is a basic recipe so feel free to modify it to your own tastes.

Download a copy of this recipe in a PDF file. And yes, that’s an acupuncture needle in the photo.