Making pickles in this way is one of the simplest - you can make them in an hour if you are in a hurry. Even if the pickling time is only 2 hours, the pickled cucumbers are so tasty and full of umami. Specks of white grains from the koji are pretty on the green cucumbers.
Total Time assumes the pickling time is 2 hours, which is the shortest time.
Please see the post Shio Kōji Recipes – Pork Sauté and Pickled Cucumbers for Meal Ideas using today's dish.
- 250g / 0.6lb cucumbers (note 1)
- 1½ tbsp Shio Koji (note 2)
- ¼ tsp mirin (optional, note 3)
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Cut both ends of the cucumbers off. Slice each cucumber diagonally into 7mm / ¼” thick pieces.
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Place the cucumber slices in a zip lock bag.
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Add Shio Kōji and mirin (if using) to the bag and massage the bag well, ensuring that all cucumber pieces are coated in Shio Kōji.
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Remove air from the bag as much as possible and seal the bag.
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Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
1. I used 2 Lebanese cucumbers (similar to Persian cucumber).
2. You can find more about Shio Kōji, including where to buy it, in my post Shio Kōji Recipes – Pork Sauté and Pickled Cucumbers.
I used Shio Kōji in loose paste form, which contains broken rice grains. You can also buy Shio Kōji in a liquid form and use it in the same way. But I personally prefer using the standard Shio Kōji paste for marinade because the specks of white rice grains from Shio Kōji .
3. Since Shio Kōji is slightly salty, the addition of mirin makes the pickling paste milder. But if you don’t have a sweet tooth like me, you might want to omit it.
4. Cucumbers Pickled in Shio Kōji can keep about 5 days in the fridge.
5. Nutrition per serving.
serving: 63g calories: 10kcal fat: 0.2g (0%) saturated fat: 0g (%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 0g monounsaturated fat: 0g cholesterol: 0mg (0%) sodium: 342mg (14%%) potassium: 95mg (3%%) carbohydrates: 21g (6%%) dietary fibre: 0.3g (1%) sugar: 3.1g protein: 0.6g vitamin a: 1% vitamin c: 2.9% calcium: 0.8% iron: 3%