Cucumber Salad With Soy, Ginger and Garlic

By Martha Rose Shulman

Cucumber Salad With Soy, Ginger and Garlic
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(5,666)
Comments
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The trick to any sliced cucumber salad is to slice the cucumbers as thin as you can and to purge them by salting them before making the salad so the dressing doesn’t get watered down by the cucumber juice.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4
  • 2large thin-skinned cucumbers (about 1½ pounds), thinly sliced
  • Salt, to taste
  • 3tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1teaspoon sugar
  • 1small garlic clove, minced, or granulated garlic or garlic flakes to taste
  • 1teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • ⅛teaspoon ground cayenne, plus more to taste
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 2tablespoons dark sesame oil
  • 3tablespoons sunflower oil or grapeseed oil
  • 1bunch scallions, white and light green parts, very thinly sliced
  • 2tablespoons chopped cilantro
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

196 calories; 17 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 544 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Sprinkle the cucumbers with a generous amount of salt and let sit in a colander in the sink for 15 minutes. Rinse and dry on a kitchen towel. Transfer to a salad bowl.

  2. Step 2

    Whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, cayenne, and pepper. Whisk in the sesame oil and the sunflower or grapeseed oil. Toss with the cucumbers, scallions, and cilantro. Chill until ready to serve.

Tip
  • Advance preparation: This will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator but the dressing will become more watery.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
5,666 user ratings
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Comments

Melissa

I've made this several times and love it, although I struggle to rid the cucumbers of the salt even after several rinses. I've taken to slicing them and sandwiching them between lots of paper towels for at least an hour. The paper towels can then be dried and reused. Chopped peanuts are a nice addition to this as well.

Emily Fergus

Lots of the water in a cucumber is in the seeds. If you halve the cuke lengthways and scrape them out with a teaspoon before slicing thinly, you'll need to add far less salt, and they won't be nearly as watery.

JD

Great salad--cool yet hot. I think the soy sauce, garlic, ginger,cayenne and sesame oil are essential. Other ingredients can be substituted. I used sherry vinegar, which was fine, and agave nectar (always) as a sub for sugar. To guarantee success, I recommend slicing cukes with a mandeline, they'll be very thin and perfectly consistent.

Jodie

Great. No Cayenne, but added toasted sesame seeds. I also skip the grapeseed oil.

TDS

I made this almost exactly as instructed, but used less than half the oil. 5 TBSP of oil seems very excessive. We enjoyed it with the reduced amount of oil.

Andrew B.

never got my cucumbers to release their water despite salting. I think it is better to press them between to sheet pans with some weight on top. It was okay but was hopping for better.

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