Having a great harvest of cucumbers this summer means I’m getting creative with the pickle recipes. These feature the lovely little lemon cucumbers, and they have wonderful spicy flavor from the chili pepper and ginger.
According to The Cook’s Thesaurus, the lemon cucumber is “sweet and flavorful”, basically lacking in “the chemical that makes other cucumbers bitter and hard to digest. Though it’s often served raw, it’s also a good pickling cucumber”.
Lemon cucumbers have a lot of seeds, so if you are looking for a super crunchy pickle, they are not the best suited for the task. If you’re dead set on crunchy pickles, try pickling them whole, or try this brine with traditional pickling cucumbers.
If you’re just looking for a slightly unusual, yet flavorful and healthy snack, or if you’re going to chop your pickles up and add them to other recipes (in a tuna or other salad perhaps) these are great.
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This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, an event managed by Haalo from Cook Almost Anything. This week’s host is Anh from A Food Lover’s Journey!
Recipe for Spicy Lemon Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
- *5-6 lemon cucumbers sliced into wedges
- *1/4 large red onion sliced
- *1 Serrano chili pepper seeded and minced
- *1 tablespoon minced ginger
- *1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- *1 qt. glass Mason or other jar
- *1 Tb. Himalayan or sea salt
- *filtered water
Instructions
- 1. Place sliced cucumbers in a large bowl and mix with the minced pepper, ginger, and lime juice. Pack this mixture into your 1 qt. glass jar.
- 2. In a separate bowl, mix the salt with 1 cup filtered water. Pour this into the jar over your cucumbers. Add more filtered water to bring the liquid about 1 inch below the top of the jar. All of the cucumbers should be covered (rearrange/remove a few if they are not).
- 3. Cap tightly and allow to sit for 3 days at room temperature.
- 4. Open the jar and see if the liquid is fizzy. If not, re-cap and allow them to sit for 1-2 more days. If there is evidence of lacto-fermentation (that's the fizziness), go ahead and taste a pickle. If you are satisfied with the flavor, transfer to the refrigerator for storage.
