Fruiting vegetables
Cucumber NukazukePickling Time, How to Cut It, and Tips
Cucumber is the classic nukazuke. There’s almost no prep, and it takes on flavor quickly even with a short pickling time, so it’s a perfect first pickle. Put it in the bed at night and it’s ready by breakfast.
Pickling in a nuka bed also passes vitamin B1 from the bran into the cucumber, so you get more of it than from a raw cucumber.
| Prep | Trim the ends and cut in half crosswise |
|---|---|
| Pickling time | 12–18 hours |
| After pickling | Keep in the fridge and eat by the next day |
Pickling times are for a nuka bed kept in the fridge. At room temperature it pickles faster, and faster still in summer. The saltiness of your bed also makes a difference. Start on the short side, taste, and find the time you like.
Japanese cucumbers are slim with thin skin. With larger cucumbers, such as American slicing cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds if they are large, then pickle a little longer.
How to make cucumber nukazuke
- Wash: Rinse the cucumber and cut off both ends.
- Rub with salt (optional): Sprinkle salt on a cutting board and roll the cucumber in it. This rubs off the little bumps and gives it a brighter green color.
- Cut: Cut it to a length that fits your bed (about in half). Cut thick ones in half lengthwise so they pickle faster.
- Pickle: Push it into the nuka bed, smooth the surface, and cover it with bran.
- Take it out: When it’s pickled to your liking, take it out, wipe off the bran with your hands, and rinse it quickly under water.
From bed to plate
Just out of the bed. It’s covered in bran, so rinse it off before slicing.
Tips
- Too sour or too salty: Slice it thinly and soak in water for a while to draw out the salt. You can also chop it and toss it with ginger and soy sauce, a dish called kakuya.
- Too mild: Your bed may be short on salt, or too cold. Pickle it longer, or add a little salt to the bed.
- Cucumbers release a lot of water: Pickling many cucumbers makes the bed watery. See Caring for a Nuka Bed.
Nukazuke keeps getting more sour once it’s out of the bed. Take it out just before eating, keep any leftovers in the fridge, and finish them by the next day.
If you don’t have a nuka bed yet, see How to Make a Nuka Bed.
