July 30, 2012

Kyuri no Kyuchan/きゅうりのキューちゃん

The main reason why I don't grow cucumbers in my rented field or in the tiny space around my house is that I get a lot of cucumbers from relatives when they are season.
The other day, I got so many of them I decided to make kyuri no kyuchan.
The recipe is almost the same as that I described here, except that I cooked the cucumbers in the microwave oven for a total of 3 + 2 = 5 minutes.
借りている農地や家の周りの狭いスペースできゅうりを育てない主な理由は、きゅうりが旬になると親戚から沢山きゅうりをもらうからです。
先日、いっぱいもらったので、きゅうりのキューちゃんを作ることにしました。
レシピはここに書いたのとほぼ同じですが、きゅうりを電子レンジで合計3+2=5分加熱しました。

Sadly, I am the only one in my family who likes home-made kyuri no kyuchan.
悲しいことに、家族のうち自家製のきゅうりのキューちゃんを好きなのは私だけです。

Edited to add:  I heated the cucumbers before adding other ingredients (ginger, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar).
追記: きゅうりは他の具材(生姜、しょう油、砂糖、お酢)を入れるまえに加熱しました。

16 comments:

Fräulein Trude said...

There is a german version of pickling cucumber or summer squash which should be to your liking. The vegetables (cut in rounds, uncooked) will be covered with a hot brine made with sugar, salt, vinegar, water, ginger or fresh horseradish slices (reminds on Wasabi) or garlic. The next day the vegetables will be sieved, the soaking liquid will be heated up again and piping hot refilled together with the vegetables in jars. They keep some months. Soy sauce could be a perfect addition.
Some years ago I made this quite often using green cucumber shaped summer squashs - I had tons in my garden. I quitted to grow them because during summer they are cheap and everyone tries to get rid of them while having some plants in the garden. I am looking out for my pattypans for pickling, they are much tastier than the green summer squash.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: Thanks for mentioning a German way of pickling. Quite interesting. Japanese ways of pickling tend to use salt only.

Sissi said...

I think I will do it tonight! Since (in my opinion) cucumber is one of the best vegetables for pickling, I'm sure it's delicious. The ginger addition is particularly intriguing. Thank you for the idea!

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: I hope you adjust the amount of soy sauce because the pickle is meant to be eaten with rice, and it may be rather salty to you depending on how you eat it.

Anonymous said...

Dear Hiroyuki San,

I am very interested to buy a shigefusa kitaeji petty knife 180mm (with saya). Do you think you can help me to source one from your regular shop? What's the price and how long does it take to deliver? I am located in Malaysia and can't find such knife here. Please help and thanks. My name is Au Poh Keong and can be contacted at pohkongau@yahoo.co.uk. Thank you very much

Hiroyuki said...

Au Poh Keong: Thanks for your inquiry.

I have just sent an inquiry to Yoshizawa Riko. I will send you their reply when I receive it.

At this point, I'd like to point out one thing: The petty knife does not a saya.

Sissi said...

Thank you, Hiroyuki. I use low salt soy sauce, but I will pay attention.

Arthur3030 said...

I followed your recipe, but I skipped the additional cooking for the cucumbers. These are very good. The cucumbers are a bit soft on the surface and a bit crunchy inside.

Thanks for all your posts. I always keep a close eye on your blog :)

Hiroyuki said...

Arthur3030: Thank you for being such an avid reader of such a tiny blog of mine!

Thanks for trying my recipe. I guess that your uncooked pickle will soon become similar to cooked pickle in texture.

Unknown said...

Dear Hiroyuki San,

Thanks for your kind assistance. Have a nice day.

Arthur3030 said...

Hiroyuki, I definitely cooked these pickles, but I saw that you did a little additional microwaving, as well. I skipped only this.

I'm sure you'll be interested to hear that I brought my pickles to work and had four people taste them. They were a great hit, and two people asked me to print out your recipe for them.

Hiroyuki said...

Arther3030: Oh, I see. Thanks for your confirmation. When I first read your comment, I wondered what you meant by "additional" cooking.

Thanks for letting me know that your coworkers(?) liked the pickle. You made me smile!

Hiroyuki said...

Au Poh Keong: Just a short note to tell you that I have not received a reply from Yoshizawa Riko until now.

(I tried to email you at the address you mentioned, but somehow, it did not work for me.)

Unknown said...

Thank you Hiroyuki, kindly follow-up for me. The knife is going to be a present for my father. It is really important.

Also, I noted a typo error on my email address, it should be pohkeongau@yahoo.co.uk

Thank you for your kind assistance

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, it seems that this recipe has a lot of success among your followers! I made it yesterday (although with long cucumber, because I had two in the fridge... so I cut it in two before slicing). Tasted today the cucumbers are excellent! Definitely too good to share with coworkers (just joking!). Thank you so much for this recipe.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Thank you for trying my recipe!

I made another batch the other day, together with two other types of pickle, because we got 50 cucumbers from my father-in-law. The kyuri no kyuchan is still in the fridge, consumed only by me.