Cucumber Salad With Soy, Ginger and Garlic
Updated April 30, 2017
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
2 large thin-skinned cucumbers (about 1 ½ pounds), thinly sliced
Salt, to taste
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small garlic clove, minced, or granulated garlic or garlic flakes to taste
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne, plus more to taste
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
3 tablespoons sunflower oil or grapeseed oil
1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
10 grams carbs; 197 calories; 7 grams monosaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 17 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 544 milligrams sodium; 2 grams protein; 5 grams sugar
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.
Powered by
Preparation
- 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.
- 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.
Advance preparation: This will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator but the dressing will become more watery.
Private Notes
Comments
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.
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.
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.
Served this with yuzu salmon, hard boiled egg and kimchi. Delish!!
I come from a Japanese American family and I grew up on Japanese cucumber salad (Sunomono) which was simply peeled, seeded, salted sliced cucumber in seasoned rice vinegar, a little sugar, drizzled with a little toasted sesame oil, and if we wanted to be fancy, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Refreshing and simple. No oil. This recipe was heavy and greasy with an unpleasant dark color. We didn’t like it at all.
Immersed the cucumber slices in a bowl of water to rid them of salt before patting them between layers of towel. Didn’t use grape seed or other oil other than sesame oil. Only one tablespoon of rice vinegar, because I don’t like vinegary taste. Good salad! A little soupy, so I eat it out of a bowl with a spoon. Topping with peanuts is a great idea—thanks, Melissa.