In Indonesian, acar means pickle that is a common side dish that goes with many mains. My family’s favorite is with fresh cucumber (timun segar). It is very quick and easy to make with only a couple of ingredients!

Quick tip about making cucumbers taste less bitter sweeter: My family taught me before slicing, cut ~ 1 inch from the top part and bottom part of the cucumber off, rub the fleshy ends of the cucumber against each other for about 30 seconds. Soon white/clear sap with come out. Rinse this off and the cucumber will have a less bitter taste. For my surprise, when I volunteered at a local Soup Kitchen the Japanese head cook did the same thing!)

Ingredients

1-2 Persian cucumber total weight ~ ½ lb.
(note/tip: I prefer this cuke because it has soft tiny seeds, so no need to scrap to throw away the seeds part, and stay crips longer in salt-sugar-vinegar solution)
½ ts. salt
½ Tbs. sugar
1 ½ Tbs. apple cider vinegar/white vinegar

Steps

Wash thoroughly the cucumber, drain.
Then slice diagonally/crosswise about 1/8 inches thick.
Mix salt, sugar, vinegar.
Stir in the sliced cucumber into salt-sugar, vinegar, and mix them well. Adjust the taste.
Keep them in fridge for 30 minutes or so before serving.
(note/tip: it is better to finish in once. It will lose the crispiness the longer stay)