In my hometown of Ely, we like to ‘sour’ things. It can be lettuce, cucumbers, peas and more. Sour food is basically like a simple quick pickle that generally has nothing more than oil and vinegar. I’m not sure what part of Ely’s heritage it comes from or if it just became popular locally. Sour cucumbers are something that both sides of my husband’s family made and I learned a couple tips and tricks from each side.
I love the tangy flavor you get from these sour cucumbers. They are sliced paper thin, paired with onion and tossed with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and then allowed sit for a little bit for all the flavors to meld. These are a great way to use up cucumbers from your garden and make a really refreshing side dish along with anything you want to pull off the grill.
Like many great recipes we learn from our grandmothers, this recipe doesn’t have very exact measurements. And that’s ok – this one is very forgiving and actually a great way to learn a ‘feel’ for how much of something to use. Especially since cucumbers can very so significantly in size.
Here’s what you need:
A mandolin (#EarnsCommission) makes quick work of the onions and the cucumbers we’re going to need for this dish. Word of caution – either use the safety food holder for the mandolin, cut resistant gloves, or be very very careful when your fingers get close – I’ll save you the details but I do say this from experience. If you don’t have a mandolin just be as thin as you can with your knife cuts.
First slice the onion. I go for about a 4:1 ratio of cucumber to onion.
Peel the cucumbers and then cut them on the thinnest setting of your mandolin – thin enough that they are almost translucent.
Now here’s the secret that I learned from my husband’s Grandma Nan. Put the cucumbers into a colander and salt them.
Crush them together with your hands and then allow to sit for 5 minutes or so. The salt is going to draw out some of the liquid from the cucumber, so when we add the oil and vinegar it’s not going to be diluted as much by the water from the cucumber. Rinse the cucumbers with cold water and gently squeeze the water out with your hands but don’t worry about getting them completely dry. This rinses the excess salt off.
Now let’s season them up. First toss with just enough oil to coat. Then add the vinegar – about 3 times the amount of oil that you used. If you don’t like things super tangy you can also go half and half with vinegar and water. Finally add a little bit of salt and pepper and stir it all together.
Allow to sit in the fridge for a couple hours before enjoying.
- 2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
- Kosher salt
- Onion, thinly sliced, enough to make about a 1:4 ratio of onion to cucumber
- Canola oil, enough to just coat the cucumber
- Cider Vinegar, about 3x the oil you used
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Put the sliced cucumbers into a colander and sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Gently crush the cucumbers together in your hands. Let sit for 5 minutes. Rinse the cucumbers in cold water and drain, gently squeezing the excess water out with your hands.
- Add onions to the bowl with the cucumbers. Drizzle on just enough oil to coat and stir until all cucumbers and onions are coated. Add about 3x the amount of vinegar as you added oil. Stir together. Season with salt and pepper.
- Allow to sit in the fridge for 2-3 hours before serving. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.
[…] shared my recipe for Sour Cucumbers last summer which is a basic oil and vinegar cucumber recipe. One of my favorite spins on this […]