Japanese Pickles Asazuke Recipe

Asazuke is similar to tsukemono, but the method of cooking is quite different. Tsukemono can take days to cook while asazuke can be prepared and finished in less than 60 minutes! It is perfect for sides to accompany your main dish. Pickled vegetable asazuke contains cucumbers, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes. I like to flavor asazuke vegetables with salt, sugar, and dashi. This Japanese Pickles Asazuke Recipe takes about 30 minutes to prepare, and about 30 minutes to soak in the asazuke sauce. It is fairly easy, and makes a wonderful side dish.

Japanese pickles asazuke are often served with donburi, such as gyudon, or oyakodon in restaurants and at home. For “washoku”, you may have an image in your mind of many small dishes lined up behind the main dish. Asazuke or tsukemono are always among these smaller side dishes. It can be made with any seasonal vegetables that are currently at your local supermarket. Please try this recipe with other recipes besides those shown in the picture below.

Tips for Making Japanese Pickles Asazuke Recipe

• While I made the recipe with cucumbers, tomatoes, and bell peppers, it can also be made with eggplant, celery, Chinese cabbage, or various other vegetables. I like to purchase seasonal vegetables because they are usually cheaper!
• I demonstrated an easier version of this recipe on this website, but I also like to add shredded lemon peels into the asazuke sauce. It gives it a wonderful smell when eating the vegetables.
• You might think the cucumber is a little too salty. If this is the case, I recommend eating the cucumbers with rice, or washing the cucumbers with water afterwards to remove some of the salt flavoring.
• I recommend waiting at least 30 minutes before eating the Japanese pickles, but if you let them soak in the asazuke sauce overnight, they taste even better.
• I cut the cucumber in using a special method. You can often see this method on street markets. During the summer, you will often see people eating cucumber sticks as shown in the picture. It contains salt and water to help refresh you for more shopping!

Japanese Pickles Asazuke Recipe

Asazuke is similar to tsukemono, but the method of cooking is quite different. Tsukemono can take days to cook while asazuke can be prepared and finished in less than 60 minutes. Vegetable asazuke contains cucumbers, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes flavored with salt, sugar, and dashi.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

Asazuke Vegetable Preparation

• 2 cucumbers
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 red and yellow bell pepper

Asazuke Sauce

• 200 ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp dashi

Instructions

 

Vegatable Preparation

• Cut and peel the cucumbers to desired sizes. (I did some bite-sized slices and some larger pickle shaped pieces)
  
• Add 1 tsp of salt into the mixing bowl and mix well with the cucumbers
• Set the cucumbers aside for at least 10 minutes
• Create a cross-shaped cut on top of each cherry tomato and place in a container
  
• Slice the red and yellow bell peppers and place in a container
  

Asazuke Sauce Preparation

• Add 200 mL into a measuring cup
• Add 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of sugar, and 2 tbsp of dashi into the water
• Mix everything well

Final Steps

• Squeeze out the water from the sliced cucumbers and place into a container
  
• Pour the asazuke sauce into each of the vegetable containers
  
• Keep the vegetables in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving
• Plate the asazuke vegetables and enjoy
  

Video

Keyword Bell pepper, Cucumber, Tomato

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