About this component
A light, sweet-sour quick pickle of cucumber, shallot and chile in a cooled vinegar syrup, served as a cool, sharp foil to rich and fried foods — most familiarly beside satay, and often with fried fish cakes and some curries. Ajad belongs to a broader Southeast Asian pickle family (related to Malay/Indonesian acar); there is no single universal recipe, and proportions and additions vary by household, vendor, region and the dish it accompanies.
Component facts
- Yield
- About 1.5 cups (360 ml)
- Prep
- 15 minutes plus cooling/resting
- Heat
- Mild
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) white or rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
- 1 cup (130 g) cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 red chile, thinly sliced (to taste)
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
Method
- Combine the vinegar, sugar, water and salt in a small saucepan.
- Warm gently, stirring, just until the sugar and salt dissolve into a light syrup; do not reduce.
- Cool the syrup completely — pouring it hot would wilt the cucumber.
- Place the cucumber, shallot and chile in a bowl and pour the cooled syrup over.
- Rest 10–15 minutes; stir in cilantro if using. Serve at room temperature or lightly chilled.
Notes from the book
- Balancing
- Sweet and sour lead, with light salt and gentle chile heat; it should taste bright and clean to cut through fat. Adjust sugar and vinegar to the dish it accompanies.
- Substitutions
- Rice vinegar for a softer sourness; add julienned carrot or daikon; scale the chile up or down for heat.
- Storage and food safety
- Best within a few hours for maximum crunch. Refrigerate up to 2–3 days in the syrup; the cucumber softens over time.
Pairs with in this book
- No. 009Chicken Satay with Peanut SauceThailandclassic accompaniment
- No. 004Massaman CurryThailandas a cool side
- No. 012Thai Fish Cakes (Tod Mun Pla)Thailandoptional
The Complete Edition
Ajad (Thai Cucumber Relish) sits in the foundations
The book carries this component alongside the other twenty-three, the twenty-seven pantry studies, and the Thailand chapter it belongs to.
Available from Amazon
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