Garden Finds: All About Tsukemono

I hope you enjoyed my visual guide to making tsukemono that I published last Thursday.

Would you believe I have one more harvest of Japanese cucumbers coming ripe on the vines?  With a heat wave in October, I guess my vines squeaked out one last set of blooms.  The cucumbers are sure growing slowly, but helped along by the recent rains, I think I will eventually get three more cucumbers with which I plan to make on last batch of tsukemono for this season.

Now I just so happened to pick up my Japanese cucumber plants this year at OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware.)  Usually I grow cucumbers from seed, but I was a little behind in getting my garden started this year so I opted for live plants instead.  Since I really like the flavor of the Japanese cucumbers, I wanted to find seeds for them so I could grow them next year.

Garden Find #1

A quick search lead me to the Kitazawa Seed Company in Oakland California.  They stock 13 varieties of Japanese cucumber here.  Varieties include: Palace King hybrid, Palace Pride hybrid, Southern Delight hybrid, Summer Dance hybrid and Tasty Green hybrid.  Here I was, worried that I wouldn't be able to find Japanese cucumber seeds and now I have to figure out which one to purchase!


Garden Find #2

Now of course you can make tsukemono with other vegetables besides cucumbers.  To do this, I decided I needed to invest in a cookbook to teach me how to do this properly.  This lead to my second discovery:


I seem to have grabbed the last copy of this book available at my local Barnes&Noble. But head over to Barnes&Noble.com to find other books on the subject too. And come back to find more posts about my adventures in making tsukemono!
 

Related articles

• A Visual Guide to Making Tsukemono (漬物) (theseatedgardener.com)
• Too Many Cukes? Freeze Slices for Later (theseatedgardener.com)

A Visual Guide to Making Tsukemono (漬物)

select 3 Japanese cucumbers

slice thin

place slices in  the bottom of a Japanese pickle press
add 3 teaspoons of sea salt
mix well

place lid on and screw down as tightly as possible
allow to sit overnight

the next day, remove the lid
cucumber slices should be surrounded by liquid

place cucumbers in a strainer or colander
rinse under cold water for several minutes to remove excess salt
allow to drain completely

store the tsukemono in the refrigerator for up to 7 days
(if they last that long!)

Based on the recipe I found at The Black Moon.

Inspired to try this yourself?  Then get your own Japanese pickle press from Amazon.com.

 

 

 

Related articles

• Too Many Cukes? Freeze Slices for Later (theseatedgardener.com)

Too Many Cukes? Freeze Slices for Later

I don't know about you, but I have been inundated with a plethora of cucumbers (say that three time fast!)  I don't want them to go to waste, but I can't possibly eat all those cucumber before they start to turn to compost.


Thank goodness for one of my favorite books this time of year, The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food by Janet Chadwick.  She actually has a recipe for freezing cucumbers, which I decided to try this year.  I'm sharing her method for preparing them below, which reminds me of the method I use to make Japanese salt pickles:

Freezing Cucumber Slices


Take two quarts (8 cups) of thinly sliced cucumbers and 1 thinly sliced medium onion and combine with two tablespoons salt in a colander. Place the colander in a bowl and let stand two hours to drain moisture from the cucumbers. Wash and drain the mixture, then wash and drain it a second time to remove all the salt.

In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers and onion with 2/3 cup each of sugar, vinegar and oil and 1 teaspoon of celery seed. Let stand one full day in refrigerator. The package the cumbers in containers leaving 1 inch of head space and freeze.  

Enjoy them after one week in the freezer.  Once defrosted, they will be good for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Buy The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food by Janet Chadwick at BarnesandNoble.com.