Cucumber Salad With Soy, Ginger and Garlic

Name: Cucumber Salad With Soy, Ginger and Garlic
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: asian
Ingredients: 2 large thin-skinned cucumbers (about 1 1/2 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; 1/8 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

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: 20 minutes
Rating: 5(4,955)
Comments: Read comments

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.

Featured in: New Uses for Cucumbers

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

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

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

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.

Tip

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

Ratings

5 out of 5

4,955 user ratings

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

Melissa7 years ago

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 Fergus5 years ago

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.

JD7 years ago

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.

Momof32 days ago

So simple, not fussy, and so good. Didn’t bother with the colander step - no time - just sliced up a bunch of Persian cucumbers and dropped them in the dressing and every bit got eaten. Brilliant.

Sally1 month ago

A quick and easy side! We all enjoyed it. Perfect for a night of grilling. Will be making again, for sure.

Tina Cecile1 month ago

yes, we do in Sweden as well!@Martha Palm

Private comments are only visible to you.