Asian Cucumber Salad

Cool and refreshing, made with rice vinegar, sesame, ginger, garlic and soy. No cooking at all — it pairs with almost anything and is a nice addition to bowls and meals you're already making. Vegan and gluten-free (with tamari or aminos).

IngredientsClear All

• 1½ lb Turkish, Persian, or English cucumbers (about 5 cups sliced)
• ½ tsp salt
• 4-5 scallions, finely sliced
• 1 tsp ginger, grated, more to taste
• 1 fat garlic clove, grated or finely minced
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar (or rice vinegar — see notes)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (or Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or coconut aminos)
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (not regular sesame oil — see notes)
• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup (or agave, honey, or sugar), more to taste
• 1-2 tsp chili garlic sauce (sambal oelek) or sriracha, more to taste
• 1-2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Score and salt the cucumbers: Run the tines of a fork down the length of each cucumber to score it — this gives the dressing something to cling to. Slice thinly, place in a bowl, and toss with the salt to draw out the liquid. Let stand 10-15 minutes while you gather everything else. Strain, but do not rinse.

2. Combine: Put the strained cucumbers in a large bowl with the scallions, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sweetener, chili garlic sauce, and sesame seeds. Mix well.

3. Season: Taste and adjust salt, sweetness, and heat to your liking. Finding the balance is the whole job here — see the note below.

4. Chill: Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

Flavor balance: If the dressing tastes too sour, add more sweetener. How much you need depends entirely on which vinegar you grabbed:

• Rice vinegar — the most acidic, needs the most sweetener
• Rice wine vinegar — less acidic
• Seasoned rice wine vinegar — least acidic and already sweetened, so start with little or no added sweetener

Toasted sesame oil: Smoky and nutty, and not interchangeable with regular sesame oil — the untoasted kind won't give you the flavor this salad is built on. It goes rancid fairly quickly, so store it in the fridge once opened and smell it before using; it should smell pleasant.

Don't rinse after salting. The salt is seasoning the cucumbers as well as drawing out water. Rinsing washes that away and leaves the salad flat.

Optional additions: fish sauce, crushed roasted peanuts, gochujang, cilantro or Thai basil, red onion, peanut chili crunch, radishes.

Storage: Best served the same day, but keeps up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It loosens as it sits and the cucumbers soften.

Source

From Asian Cucumber Salad by Sylvia Fountaine, Feasting at Home