Japanese Soy-Vinegar Pickled Cucumbers

Japanese Soy-Vinegar Pickled Cucumbers

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 5 mins
Marinate: 8 hrs
Total: 8 hrs 15 mins
Servings: 12 to 14 servings

Traditionally in Japanese cuisine, whenever rice is served it is accompanied by a small plate of pickles known as tsukemono. Tsukemono is often served along with steamed rice, donburi (a rice bowl dish), a Japanese meal, or bento and can either be made of pickled vegetables or fruit. When made with cucumbers, this tsukemono is referred to as shoyuzuke kyuri.

The procedure for cooking this specific tsukemono recipe differs from western-style pickling in that the cucumbers are simply steeped in the cooked soy-vinegar marinade but not actually cooked themselves, nor stored in sterilized jars. For this reason, this tsukemono recipe will keep in the refrigerator similarly to any perishable food.

Store in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Japanese Soy-Vinegar Pickled Cucumbers ingredients

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  2. Combine water, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small pot and simmer over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Allow mixture to cool. 

    Combine water, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small pot

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  3. Roughly chop cucumbers into medium pieces. 

    Roughly chop cucumbers into medium pieces

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Transfer cucumbers to ​a large glass jar or storage container with a lid.

    cucumbers in a jar

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Pour soy-vinegar mixture over cucumbers and cover container. Refrigerate and allow the cucumbers to marinate for 8 hours to one day. (For best flavor, marinate for two days.) Turn cucumbers in the marinade periodically to season them evenly.

    Japanese Soy-Vinegar Pickled Cucumbers

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Tips

  • The longer the cucumbers marinate in the soy-vinegar mixture, the bolder the flavor becomes, so be sure not to skimp on the pickling time.
  • Tsukemono can be served in a few different ways. Bring something special to cocktail hour and enjoy the shoyuzuke with drinks, or accompany them with rice and serve as a side dish (okazu). Simply place a plate of shoyuzuke on the table when you serve a meal, or use it as a garnish for a complimentary dish.

Recipe Variations

  • Use four Japanese cucumbers instead of English cucumbers.
  • The names of the different varieties of tsukemono are based on what vegetable or fruit is being pickled. The most common tsukemono, besides cucumber, are daikon radish (takuan), turnip, ume plum (umeboshi), and Chinese cabbage. Often used as a garnish is pickled red ginger, called beni shoga, and gari, pickled ginger, is eaten between courses of sushi. If you order a Japanese curry, you may find some rakkyozuke alongside; this mild and fresh-tasting onion helps balance out the stronger flavors of the dish. For a combination of pickled vegetables, try fukujinzuke, a mixture of cucumber, eggplant, daikon, and lotus root which has marinated in a soy sauce-based brine.