This unusual variety has long ceased to be a curiosity. These fruits grow up to 80 cm long and have smooth or lumpy skin. Most of all, they are loved for their delicate sweet flesh and pleasant aroma. Another advantage is their small, almost invisible seeds. Now every housewife wants to prepare this miracle for her family. Therefore, recipes for Chinese cucumbers for the winter have become very popular.
Features of pickling long Chinese cucumbers
Many people, when encountering these vegetables for the first time, think that it is hardly possible to prepare them for the winter. Despite their rather exotic appearance, they are perfect for pickling, pickling and making salads. The peculiarity of these vegetables is that they cannot be preserved whole in a jar. In order for them to fit freely, they need to be cut into digestible pieces and placed compactly.
How to select and prepare a product
Cucumbers must be sorted in advance, removing all questionable fruits. Wash selected vegetables, place in a deep basin and cover with water for 5 hours.
This is done so that during further processing and storage the cucumbers remain hard and crispy.
How to prepare Chinese cucumbers at home
Although these vegetables are partly considered exotic, their preparation is no different from the usual. Housewives use the same ingredients as every year, collecting the usual cucumbers from their beds.
Canned cucumbers for the winter
According to this recipe, the preparations are crispy, aromatic and very tasty.
Required ingredients:
- cucumbers (as much as will go in);
- Dill seeds;
- horseradish leaves;
- fresh garlic;
- hot peppers;
- salt (a tablespoon per liter jar), for those who like saltier cucumbers, the amount of this product can be increased;
- vinegar (25 grams);
- sugar (dessert spoon).
Cooking process:
- Wash the cucumbers, remove the stems, cut into pieces about 5 centimeters thick.
- Sterilize jars and boil metal lids.
- Place spices on the bottom, then cucumbers, salt, vinegar and sugar (you can add salt to your taste).
- Pour hot water, cover with a lid, sterilize for 7 minutes, roll up.
With mustard
Required ingredients:
- cucumbers (based on 6 jars of 0.5 l each);
- salt (3 tbsp);
- sugar (350 g, that’s about 1.5 cups);
- mustard powder (1 tbsp);
- vinegar (1 glass);
- water (1 l);
- allspice and dry bay leaf (to taste).
Important! The sheets must be whole and not broken. The appearance of the marinade will depend on this.
Cooking process:
- Peel the skins from washed cucumbers. Then cut it so that you can easily fill a half-liter jar.
- Next, place in a clean, sterilized container. Each jar contains a pinch of mustard, bay leaf and allspice peas.
- Mix water with vinegar and bring to a boil. Add granulated sugar and salt. Continue boiling until the ingredients are completely dissolved. Be sure to cool the finished marinade.
- Next, you need to fill each jar with it, cover it with a lid and send it to sterilize for at least 10 minutes.
- Now quickly close the jars and turn them upside down. Cover the pieces with a blanket until they cool completely.
With red currants
Required ingredients:
- cucumbers (600 g);
- currants (3 leaves + a glass of berries);
- water (1 l);
- salt (2 tsp);
- for piquancy: a sprig of dill, 3 cloves of garlic and 10 g of horseradish root.
Cooking process:
- Sterilize washed jars and lids.
- After that, fill them with cut cucumbers, herbs, horseradish and garlic.
- Add salt to clean water, boil and pour into jars.
- Cover and set aside for a few minutes.
- Return the liquid to the pan and repeat boiling.
- Pour over the cucumbers again and you can roll up the lids.
- Turn the containers over and leave for several hours.
- When the workpiece has completely cooled, it can be placed in a permanent storage location.
"Pickles"
Required ingredients:
- cucumbers with small seeds (this is an important point) - approximately 1 kg;
- vinegar (apple) - 1 glass;
- sugar - 14 tbsp. l.;
- coarse table salt - 3 tbsp. l.;
- turmeric - ½ tsp;
- large onions - 2 pcs.;
- a dozen black peppercorns.
To pickle vegetables, you will need to follow these steps:
- Cut off the ends of washed dry cucumbers.
- Then they need to be cut into thin circles, and the onion should be chopped into rings.
- Place the cucumbers and onions in a wide, deep bowl, add salt, mix and put under a press.
- Then rinse the vegetables thoroughly.
- Pour vinegar into a saucepan, add granulated sugar, turmeric and peppercorns. The mixture must be boiled, stirring constantly.
- Now you can put cucumbers and onions in it and also bring to a boil. Place the resulting mass in jars that are still warm after sterilization and fill with the prepared marinade. You can roll it up.
Pickles
To fill 1 jar with a volume of 1.5 liters, you need to take:
- 3 long cucumbers;
- 5 tsp. table vinegar + 2.5 cups of cooled boiled water;
- spices: 2 tsp. sugar, 10 peppercorns, 3 cloves of garlic (5 for spicy lovers), dill.
Cooking process:
- Place finely chopped herbs and garlic on the bottom of a clean, sterile container.
- Cut the washed cucumbers into longitudinal strips.
- Separately, in a saucepan, water is combined with sugar, salt and vinegar.
- The finished brine is poured into a jar. If it is not enough, you can add boiled water.
- The container is covered with a plastic lid and sent into the cold to marinate for a couple of days. All is ready.
Further storage
It is best to store rolls with Chinese cucumbers in an apartment at a temperature no higher than + 15 degrees under a metal lid in compliance with the cooking technology.If the container is not airtight, the temperature should not exceed + 10 degrees.
