April 22, 2013

Chinese Soy Sauce Hua Gua Pickles 花瓜

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This chinese Hua Gua pickle is just so easy and delicious that it's ridiculous.  Inspired by the success with our chinese vinegar pickle I was gripped with a nostalgia for the Hua Gua pickles, 花瓜 or 醬瓜,  of my childhood.  These are delightfully crunchy Taiwanese soy sauce pickled cucumbers that Mom bought in little glass jars to go with our congee.

It was such a tasty treat that we used to fight over these little suckers when the Grandma and Mom weren't looking.  There was never enough to go around with three hungry little chinese girls and just a little tiny jar of pickles.  And, just to be clear, hungry little chinese girls can eat alot of food!  Well, now all these years later I have discovered that, as I mentioned earlier, these pickles are just ridiculously easy to make and taste just like the (actually better!) store bought kind (minus the yummy (not!) flavours of chemical preservatives of course.)

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Here is my beautiful jar of Hua Gua pickles after a day or two in the fridge.  I couldn't believe how good these little guys tasted!  And the crunch!  Where does that beautiful crunch come from?

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This is a photo of dried licorice root , or 甘草, which you can get from any chinese pharmacy store, you know the ones with all the dried weird looking things inside like dried fish innards, seahorses and deer antlers.  Just ask them for a handful of the stuff and they will weigh it out for you.

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Use a good cucumber like the japanese cucumber or english cucumber.  When choosing the cuke, press gently.  The firmer the cucumber the better, it should be really hard! (sorry, couldn't help that)  And get yourself some really good soy sauce already! (In others words soy sauce without MSG).

Update:  My mom tried this recipe (finally) and gave it a two thumbs up!!  She's made two batches already in around three days.  And my mom should know about Hua Gua pickles since she grew up in Taiwan!
Chinese Hua Gua Pickles Recipe 花瓜
(makes one jarful) Prep time: 2 min  Cook time: 1 min  
(Recipe adapted from Madame Huang's Kitchen)

Ingredients: 


Directions:

Clean the cucumber thoroughly.  (We soak for 10  minutes in water with 1 tsp of white vinegar)  Cut off tips and slice into 1/4 inch rounds.  Put cucumbers and all other ingredients into a small pot.

Bring to boil and let cook for one minute.  Turn off heat and let cool.  When cool pour everything into a jar, making sure the cucumbers are immersed into the marinade.  Put in fridge and ready to eat the next day.  Use clean utensils to pick out the pickles and enjoy!  Store in the fridge.

This pickle goes great with congee!  See our delicious Chinese Congee recipe.

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18 comments:

  1. Thank you! I've been looking for a recipe for these pickles for years... I can't wait to try them.

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    1. I hope that you like the pickles! Watch out, though, they can get addictive!

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    2. Love the recipes and the info and story that goes with them.
      A.

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  2. Am I missing something? I don't see any water? How to bring everything to a boil with only 4 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp vinegar?

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    1. Hi Jackie - no water needed, just 5 tbsp soy sauce and 2.5 of vinegar is needed because the boiling time is so short. It works, trust me, we make this all the time! Just use a small pot. ~ellen

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  3. It tasted great! I am ready to make some more. Is it possible to reuse the soy sauce? Seems such a waste to throw it all away.

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    1. Hi Jackie - so glad you liked them! I totally agree it seems wasteful to throw out the sauce so I usually reuse it a couple of times. I just add a bit more of the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar (following approx to the recipe proportions) to the pickle sauce and then follow the recipe. That way I can have these delious pickles in my fridge all the time! ~ellen

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    2. I tried reusing the old sauce plus some more and it doesn't taste as good. But I have times when I didn't put enough sauce that there is not enough to cover all the cucumber. That's when I will add the old sauce to top it off.

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    3. Hi Jackie - Topping off with old sauce, that's a great idea! I usually can use my old sauce at least one more time if I add enough new mix to it, but if it doesn't seem right just use new sauce. - ellen

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  4. Hi Jackie,

    Thank you for the lovely recipe. It looks delicious and I am eager to try it out (with some yummy congee). Do you how long will the pickle last in the fridge?

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    1. Hi Cath - If you are careful to use clean dry chopsticks to remove pickles from the jar each time, it should last for quite a while, we've kept it for up to a month at a time. ~ellen

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  5. Hello! Do you have to boil the jars first?

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    1. Hi Wen Sun - I usually just rinse the jars out with boiling water and let them dry. ~ellen

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  6. I know this is an old article, but wanted to thank you for posting this. I grew up eating these as a Taiwanese girl growing up in California, and was totally craving some. I live in Tokyo now where these are pretty hard to get and many have a ton of unnecessary additives. Thank you Thank you!!!

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    1. Hey kakibell - I agree, these lovely pickles are worthy of a craving! I just have to have some every once in a while, there's nothing quite like them and so crunchy! So happy to help out! ~ellen

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    2. I also grew up as a Taiwanese American in California and was craving these recently because they're the only pickles whose flavor I enjoyed growling up. So glad I found this recipe!

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  7. Same here! These were the only pickles we had at home growing up and I love them so much, so crunchy and delicious 😜ellen

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