Japanese Pickled Cucumber (キュウリ浅漬け) Recipe

Kyuuri Asazuke :) An easy way to unknowingly finish a whole concombre. 

Crisp cucumbers traditionally pickled to for a light and delicious taste

> Origin: Japanese
> Cost: Cheap
> Ease: Very Easy

 If you're craving a healthy and easy snack, kyuuri asazuke are the way to go! All you need to do is make preparation and let it sit overnight (or longer) to have delicious results. This recipe can be used with any type of cut of cucumber. You could slice them thickly, or cut them into rectangles, but my favourite is cutting them into thin slices. It gives me the illusion that I have more and it also calls for a shorter 'marinating' time because the pickling liquid can easily seep into the thin cucumber. I love this snack a lot, and since cucumbers aren't expensive, it's a perfect snack for a student who wants to eat healthy but wants fast food :) ! 

Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber (can use english or japanese) 
• ~4 tbsp of rice vinegar 
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2-3 tspn salt (for sprinkling)
• 1/4 tspn salt 

Methods:

1. Slice the cucumber in whatever way you prefer. 
2. Sprinkle and massage the cucumber with 2-3 tspn salt (for sprinkling). Let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, no more than 30 minutes. 
3. Rinse out the salt with cold water. Pat dry with a paper towel.
4. Mix the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt (1/4 tspn), stir until the sugar and salt have fully dissolved. 
5. Marinate the cucumbers in a sealed container overnight for best results. The thicker the cucumbers, the longer you need to marinate. For thinly sliced cucumbers, I found that a couple of hours (~6-8 hours) was plenty for it to have a nice, light taste.