This pickled cucumber, shallot and chili is a must in Indonesian one-dish meal, such as fried rice, fried noodle or vermicelli. It is also a nice condiment for claypot rice. Always served cold, cucumber pickles is great to be taken with warm rice and noodles.

We even use this in our homemade burgers!

The trick to get this right (as it was done here) is to seed the cucumbers before pickling, that way the pickles will not be too soggy. The vinegar and sugar compliment cucumber and shallot is just icing on the cake. Don’t worry about the chili. Remove the seeds if you will, but generally the chili will lose some degree of the spiciness after soaked in vinegar and sugar mixture.

Pickled Cucumber and Shallot

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers
2 tsp salt
2 shallots, quartered
2 chilies, cut into 0.5 cm length
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp white vinegar

Directions:

Cut cucumbers into quarters, lengthwise. Remove seeds and cut diagonally, 1cm thickness

Sprinkle some salt on the cucumbers. Leave on kitchen counter for 15 minutes

Squeeze the excess liquid off the cucumbers

Combine the rest of the ingredients and chill before serving