Cucumber Pickles

Ingredients

• 1 kg Baby Cucumbers (or as many as you can stuff into the jar)
• 30 g Sea Salt
• Filtered water
• Pickling spices of your preference:
  • coriander
  • mustard seeds
  • celery seeds
  • black peppercorns
  • garlic
  • onion
  • bay leaves

Equipment

• 1L sterilized glass jar with airtight lid

Instructions

Step 1

Slice the ends off of each cucumber. Soak all the cucumbers in an ice bath for up to two hours.

Step 2

While the cucumbers are soaking, add pickling spices and sea salt into a small saucepan and add 1/2 cup water. Bring it to a simmer for 10 minutes and stir to dissolve the salt before removing it from the heat. Set aside and allow to completely cool before using.

Step 3

When the cucumbers are ready, pack the cucumbers into the jar tightly. If I have got time, I like to arrange them lengthways in a circle. When I’m in a hurry, I usually just throw them all into the jar snd make sure the top ones are tuck snuggly under the neck of the jar to prevent being exposed to air. This is also the stage for adding garlic cloves and bay leaves.

Step 4

Making sure the brine is completely cooled, pour into the packed jar. Top up with more filtered water until all the cucumbers are submerged. Lid tightly and allow to ferment at room temperature until the brine turns cloudy. It usually takes around 3-7days for the brine to turn cloudy. Once the pickles are ready, transfer to the fridge and enjoy when a pickle craving hits!!