Cucumber Salad With Soy, Ginger and Garlic
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 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
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
- 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.
I didn’t have soy sauce on hand so made it without. It was a little bland for my taste but that could have been because of the lack of soy sauce. I followed others’ advice and seeded the cucumbers (used two large English cucumbers and it was enough for 5 people). I’ll make again and add soy sauce next time. Our teens loved it!
Nice, quick salad, full of flavor. Was a good accompaniment to the pan fried chicken thighs I made. My son likes plain white rice, and a salad like this alongside plain rice really livens up a meal. Some one else suggested using Siracha Sauce instead of cayenne and I also think this would work well.
Delicious. But don’t let the dressed salad sit for more than1.5 hours. The soy in the dressing makes the cucumber slices evil looking.