Japanese Cucumber

Right now is the best time to enjoy Japanese cucumber as they are in season.

Japanese cucumbers are skinnier, smaller and harder than the regular cucumbers that you find in your local supermarket. It got a thicker skin but it is not too bitter, it has denser flesh, less seeds and is less watery. It is much more flavorful than the regular kind.

In Japan we eat it fresh as well as pickled. When we eat it fresh we use a technique to reduce the bitterness of the skin by scraping the cucumber first with a handful of salt. Take a look at the video to see how we do it.

A delicious and easy way to enjoy Japanese cucumber is to first scrape it, then cut the cucumber into sticks the size and shape of French fries then dip the sticks into a little bit of miso.

At Matsuri we use it fresh in our salads. We also just debuted a new summer cocktail called gin kyuri (kyuri is Japanese for cucumber) in which we puree the cucumber. It is deliciously refreshing.

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Education

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• cooking
• food
• japanese
• vegetables
• veggies
• kitchen
• recipe
• restaurant
• recipes
• matsuri