Acar Timun (Cucumber Pickles)

Super simple Indonesian version of cucumber pickles which accompanies many dishes from fried rice to meat dishes. Spicy, sweet, and sour!

Taking this shot was longer than making the acar!

About a week ago I got an email from SAVEUR about my blog was nominated as one of the finalists for their annual blog awards in the Most-inspired Weeknight Dinners category. I stared at the email while my daughter was next to me and she was like “What mom? What? Why are you quiet?”. I was stoked to the max. Yes, it’s true that I have tried for the nominations for the past 2 years just for the fun of it! Who knows right? I never got the nominations anyway ha.ha..! It’s funny that I found it a bit surreal when dream actually comes true in this case. From the deepest of my heart, I can’t thank everyone enough for the support, the nominations, and now the voting! It’s so heart-warming to receive messages from friends and readers, sharing their positive vibes. I really love what I’m doing and this tiny milestone for the blog has truly inspired me to be a better person. To create better content. To push my creativity. I’m honored to be part of the talented people around the world. If you choose to vote for What To Cook Today you can cast your vote here.Thank you again everyone ! Thank youuuu!!!

Scraping off the seed will make your acar so much less watery and diluted

Coming out from the SAVEUR cloud nine and back to mother earth again, I found the husband walked in the house with bags of homegrown cucumbers (grown by somebody else of course!LOL). I don’t even find my own un-green thumbs offensive anymore. It has become a joke in this house. Nothing can really grow under my care (I’m not proud of that, but just putting it out there!) Ok, maybe my kids do grow under my care. But, trying to grow our own produce at home had brought nothing but failures. My father-in-law was trying to grow some potatoes and reminded me to water them when he was away. Alas! those too were history.

So back to the cucumbers. Loads of them that we have been eating lots of cucumber pickles. No matter how much I made though, we went through it so quickly! My father-in-law loves this acar timun. I actually made this to accompany the Martabak Mesir, but most Indonesians can eat acar with rice, noodles, savory pancakes, salad, seriously…anything savory!

All you need are just hot water, sugar, and vinegar to pickle the cucumbers. Shallots are always a must for me in this cucumber pickle. Some added carrots, but I prefer it without the carrots. When you eat it with meaty dishes, the shallots help to balance out that meatiness.

Acar Timun (Cucumber Pickles)

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Pickling time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings 2 cups

5 from 2 reviews

REVIEW & RATE PRINT

Ingredients

0.5x1x2x

• ▢ 2 medium size cucumber
• ▢ 4 tbsp hot water
• ▢ 4 tbsp sugar
• ▢ 3 tbsp white vinegar
• ▢ 3 red Thai chili cut into small pieces

Instructions

 

• Peel the cucumber and then cut into half vertically. Use a spoon with a sharp point, like grapefruit spoon for example, to scoop off the seeds. Regular spoon will work too, so don't sweat it if you don't have grapefruit spoon. It just makes the work a little easier
• Cut the cucumber into cubes or you can cut it into half-circle shape. It doesn't matter. I prefer the cube shapes
• Place the hot water and sugar in a glass-jar. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the vinegar and chili. Add the cucumber. Close the lid of the jar and shake it. You can pickle this in a non-reactive bowl too. Whatever works for you. Let it pickle for at least 1 hour in a refrigerator. I love it chilled because it's just so refreshing. You can store this in the refrigerator for up to 1 week

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