Pickled Cucumber Recipe using Shio Koji Malted Rice
“Shio Koji (塩麹)” is a seasoning paste that became a topic of conversation several years ago in Japan and now has become a seasoning commonly used by Japanese home cooks.
It is a lumpy white paste made by fermenting and aging the mixture of malted rice and salt. Shio Koji can be used in various ways, and just with the malted rice, you can easily make Japanese-style pickles.
Japanese-Style Pickled Cucumber Recipe using Shio Koji
When it comes to the Japanese pickle made with Shio Koji, the most common vegetable prepared for it is cucumber. Since in fact I have the pickled cucumber in the refrigerator now, this time let me introduce how it is made with Shio Koji.
Instructions
For this recipe, all you need to prepare are 2 Japanese cucumbers and 2 tablespoons of Shio Koji paste, and here are the instructions with photos.
| 1 |  |
Cut cucumbers into moderate-sized pieces. Then, put the pieces and Shio Koji paste together in a zip lock bag |
|---|---|---|
| 2 |  |
Rub the paste evenly over the cucumbers. Then, force air out of the bag and close it |
| 3 |  |
Put the zip lock bag in the refrigerator and let it sit for one day |
| 4 |  |
After that, rinse Shio Koji from cucumbers |
| 5 |  |
Cut the cucumbers into about 1cm wide slices |
| 6 |  |
Enjoy the cucumber pickles! |
The Japanese pickled cucumber has a right amount of salt and gets plenty of umami from Shio Koji. This recipe is quite simple, but the resultant cucumber pickles taste very good.
