Pickled cucumber is one of the popular side dishes in various dishes. The combination of sour, sweet, and fresh flavors of pickled cucumber can provide a perfect balance of flavors . This makes pickles suitable to be served with heavy foods such as fried rice, satay, or even as a light snack.
The process of making cucumber pickles is quite simple, using ingredients such as cucumber, vinegar, sugar, and spices, which are processed in such a way as to produce a distinctive and refreshing taste. Behind its deliciousness, cucumber pickles have a weakness that is often complained about, namely that the texture is easily soft if not stored or served properly.
Cucumber, as the main ingredient of pickles, has a high water content. When the cucumber is soaked in a solution of vinegar and sugar, the process of osmosis occurs, where water from inside the cucumber comes out and mixes with the solution. This can cause the texture of the cucumber to become soft and less crispy, thus reducing the pleasure of eating pickles.
To overcome this problem, there are several steps that can be taken to keep cucumber pickles crispy. As shown by YouTube user yu sitie chanel who shared how to make cucumber pickles so that they stay fresh for a long time. In her video, she admitted that she has her own trick to make cucumber pickles fresher and not easily soft.
 YouTube/yu sitie chanel
As reported by BrilioFood from YouTube yu sitie chanel on Sunday (22/9), the first thing to do is to choose a cucumber that is still fresh and hard when it is going to be processed. Fresh cucumbers have a bright green skin color that is even. In addition, when pressed, the surface of the cucumber feels hard and solid. After that, peel the cucumber and slice it into small pieces. Next, put it in a container. Then add a little salt and let it sit for a while. Well, this salt will help remove the water content in the cucumber, so that when served the texture of the pickles will remain crispy and not easily soft for a long time.
 YouTube/yu sitie chanel
Once done, drain the water from the cucumber, then mix the cucumber with the other ingredients. In the video, YouTube user yu sitie chanel adds sliced carrots, 1 clove of garlic, 5 cloves of shallots, and 6 thinly sliced cayenne peppers.
 YouTube/yu sitie chanel
As a flavoring, she also added 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 5 tablespoons of tamarind water. Well, this tamarind is used as a substitute for vinegar. According to YouTube user yu sitie chanel, tamarind water will make the taste of the cara fresher. In addition, tamarind water provides a softer and more complex sour taste compared to vinegar, which tends to have a very sharp sour taste.
 YouTube/yu sitie chanel
After being seasoned, stir all the pickle ingredients. That way the pickles are ready to be consumed. You can even put them in an airtight jar and store them as stock. Guaranteed to taste fresher, tastier, and crispy for a long time. This video about pickle making tricks has been watched more than 166 thousand times on YouTube. Who would have thought, many other YouTube users then gave direct responses in the comments column. Some of these netizens even gave other suggestions for making fresh events. "I like to make it like that.. but I add pineapple so it's really fresh," commented the YouTube account @AmyFitri-r5b. "In my place, the carrots are soaked in hot water for a while," explained YouTube @cindylisty2375. "If I don't use vinegar for pickles, I replace it with lime, it's also fresh," said YouTube @marinimarini5213.