Outside the window, the season of fruits and vegetables is in full swing. During this period, the hostesses make a variety of pickles. Some salt tomatoes, others mushrooms, and others cabbage. Of this variety, I prefer to make light-salted cucumbers, characterized by a crispy structure and a unique taste.
Salted cucumbers are a product prepared by short salting. This is the middle ground between pickles for the winter and fresh. The appetizer is most popular among Russian, Polish, Ukrainian and Belarusian culinary specialists.
I will share the collection of recipes that I use annually to make crispy treats at home. In addition, I will reveal a few secrets that will be useful in the preparation of perfect salted cucumbers.
Calorie Salted Cucumbers
Cucumbers in salted form are incredibly useful. They have a lot of fiber, which helps to accelerate digestive processes. The product contains natural antioxidants that cleanse the body of free radicals and radioactive elements.
In salted cucumbers, there are many useful trace elements involved in the formation of connective and bone tissues, which contribute to strengthening immunity. And if vinegar is used for salting, the product protects the body from pathogenic bacteria, regulates the growth of fatty tissues and normalizes carbohydrate metabolism.
Regular use contributes to weight loss, and a fresh taste in combination with a unique aroma compensates for the low nutritional value.
The recipe for instant salted cucumbers
Let's start with a quick recipe. Many chefs prefer him for simplicity and low time consumption. One night is enough for the taste and aroma of cucumbers to peak.
- cucumbers 2 kg
- water 3 l
- dry dill 3 twigs
- cherry leaves 4 leaf
- black peppercorns 5 grains
- Bay leaf 1 sheet
- salt 3 Art. l
- Prepare cucumbers in advance. Rinse the same in shape and size with water and soak for two hours. Next, cut off the ends of each vegetable and make several longitudinal cuts. This will speed up the cooking process.
- Take a three liter pot. First, put greens on the bottom, add pepper and laurel. Fill the container with cucumbers, pour salt. Pour ice water, and on top of the cucumbers, put a little green.
- Cover and leave overnight. In the morning, remove the container with light-salted cucumbers in the cold.
According to this recipe, salted cucumbers are cooked very quickly. And so that the product does not deteriorate and retains taste, store cans in the refrigerator.
Salted Cucumbers with Garlic and Dill
In world cuisine, garlic and dill are considered the best ingredients for cooking spicy salted appetizers, and if you add a little horseradish and coriander to the brine, you get a culinary masterpiece. Such aromatic diversity will not leave anyone indifferent.
- Cucumbers - 2 kg.
- Water - 3 liters.
- Salt - 3 tablespoons.
- Dill - 2 bunches.
- Garlic - 16 cloves.
- Table horseradish - 2 tablespoons.
- Coriander - 2 teaspoons.
- Fill the cucumbers with ice water and wait a few hours to get them wet.
- Make a pickle. To do this, mix water with salt and bring to a boil.
- At the bottom of a clean pan, put a few twigs of dill, a little table horseradish and chopped garlic. Put cucumbers on top of the greens. Cover the vegetables with the remaining herbs and sprinkle with coriander.
- Pour cucumbers with brine. Cover the jars with pickles in a small plate. After a day, the product is ready for tasting. Store the pickles in brine in the cold.
Agree, it is hard to believe that with the help of such simple manipulations you can get excellent treats, which will be a great addition to mashed potatoes or fried potatobut it really is.
How to make Crispy Salted Cucumbers
If you want to be guaranteed to get crispy salted cucumbers at home, use the following recipe. It is based on the use of mineral water, which provides a pleasant crunch.
- Cucumbers - 1 kg.
- Garlic - 3 cloves.
- Salt - 2 tablespoons.
- Mineral with gas - 1 liter.
- Dill and parsley to taste.
- At the bottom of a clean pan, make a pillow of fresh herbs and chopped garlic, lay a row of cucumbers with cut ends on top. Repeat layers until cucumbers run out. Put the remaining greens on top of the vegetables.
- Dissolve the salt in the mineral water. Pour the cucumbers with the resulting composition, cover with a lid and send to the refrigerator. In the morning, pickles on a mineral water will surprise you with a pleasant crunch and a unique taste.
This is a quick and tasty recipe. It is also good because it is suitable for cooking salted cucumbers at any time. Be sure to write in the cookbook.
Hot salted cucumbers in a jar
There are many ways to prepare salted cucumbers. Some are based on dry salting, while others are based on the use of cold or hot brine. First, let's talk about the hot method, because it is much faster than the cold counterpart.
- Cucumbers - 1 kg.
- Salt - a tablespoon per liter of water.
- Dill - 4 umbrellas.
- Garlic - 3 cloves.
- Currant leaves - 4 pcs.
- Horseradish leaves - 3 pcs.
- Rinse the cucumbers with water, cut off the tips. Wash and dry the greens, peel the garlic and chop if desired.
- Put some garlic and herbs on the bottom of the jar. Fill the container with cucumbers, cover with a layer of the remaining greens.
- Put a pot of water on the stove, pour salt and boil. Hot pickle pour cucumbers. Leave the pickle in the room for a day, then put it in the cold.
This dish has an unsurpassed taste, but if you want to diversify it, add a few sliced apples to the jar. As a result, cucumbers will acquire a sweetish flavor and apple flavor. You can add to this recipe some honey or your favorite spices. These ingredients do not harm.
Cold-salted cucumbers in a bag
Skillful hostesses make salted cucumbers not only in jars and pans, but also in plastic bags. This cooking technology has many advantages. These include simplicity, high cooking speed and excellent results.
- Cucumbers - 1 kg.
- Dill - 1 bunch.
- Garlic - 1 head.
- Salt - 1 tablespoon.
- Rinse the cucumbers with water and peel. Each cut into four parts to speed up the cooking process. Put prepared vegetables in a bag.
- Divide the head of garlic into slices, peel, cut into slices and send to the cucumbers along with coarsely chopped dill.
- Add salt to the bag, shake and refrigerate for a day.
Light-salted cucumbers prepared in a bag are suitable for any feast. This is a great snack for strong drinks and a good addition to other dishes. Just remember to remove the remaining salt before serving.Paired with fresh herbs, cucumbers will create an excellent culinary picture.
What is better to cook - on water or mineral water
The classic recipe for cucumbers involves the use of vegetables, salt, dill, garlic and horseradish with the addition of ordinary water. But there are many recipes based on mineral water with gas. I wonder which type provides the best result?
If we talk about the taste of salted cucumbers, notice the difference is problematic. At the same time, soda provides the finished product with an additional crunch, so its use is appropriate if you want to guarantee a crispy treat.
Useful Tips
I reviewed the most popular and delicious step by step recipes. In conclusion, I will share simple rules regarding not a specific recipe, but the general technology of cooking. Following the recommendations, always get excellent results.
- For preparing snacks, use small, strong, thin-skinned vegetables of the same length and shape. This is the secret to uniform salting. Yellowed cucumbers do not fit.
- When salting, cucumbers absorb liquid, so for cooking, take only clean, filtered water. If you want to get a crispy snack, mineral water with gas will help to achieve the goal.
- Salting cucumbers is recommended in glass, ceramic or enameled dishes.
- Be sure to soak the cucumbers before further cooking. 4 hours is the optimal duration of a water treatment.
- Coarse rock salt suitable for pickling is used. for salting salmon or mackerel. It is impossible to get a quality snack with another salt.
- The best salted cucumbers are obtained only in a spicy marinade. I advise you to add a little dill, garlic, black pepper, peas, bay leaves or currant leaves to the liquid.
- When using hot brine, the dish reaches readiness per day. In the case of using cold brine, it takes at least 3 days to fully prepare.
I have repeatedly heard from my friends that salted cucumbers in a couple of days turn into a salty product. To prevent this, store them in the refrigerator, and add fresh vegetables to the brine, as the cucumbers decrease. I hope that thanks to this article, a plate with this excellent treat will appear in your refrigerator soon. See you!