Enjoy thinly sliced cucumbers tossed in a deliciously spicy, tangy and savory dressing for this easy Asian cucumber salad. A great choice for an appetizer or as a side dish!
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After making some Acar Timun Nanas (Pickled Cucumber Pineapple Salad) a couple of weeks ago, I realised how much I actually love cucumber salads! So keeping to our theme of sharing healthy recipes lately, here’s another one we could add to the list.
It’s an easy Asian cucumber salad that will get you salivating while preparing the dish, that you’ll keep reaching for it during your meal!
Crunchy Asian Cucumber Salad
Cucumbers are light, refreshing and crunchy, but don’t really contain much flavor to them. Which is why it actually makes for the perfect base in any salad! Getting the dressing right is key in order to attain that delectable tangy and savory flavor.
We’ve got a simple dressing mix containing vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and light soy sauce.
And I love to top it off with some chili oil! (Here’s my Homemade Chili Oil recipe FYI!). You can adjust the amount of chili oil according to your heat preference, or opt to leave it out completely.
ingredients you’ll need
(For full ingredient measurements, please proceed to the recipe card below.)
- Persian cucumbers
- Salt
- Sesame oil
- Light soy sauce
- Sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Chili oil: I use my homemade chili oil.
- Sesame seeds
How to make easy crunchy asian cucumber salad
- Rinse and slice one end of the cucumber at an angle.
- Continue slicing at an angle. Slices should look more oval than round. Thickness should be up to preference.
- Add to a bowl/container and sprinkle 1/2 tsp of salt.
- Mix that well and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to draw out the water.
- Drain the water and give the cucumbers a quick 10 seconds rinse before returning back to the bowl/container.
- Add sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, chili oil and sesame seeds.
- Stir until well combined and serve. Enjoy!
Notes for Easy Asian Cucumber Salad
- Sweat the cucumbers – Season the sliced cucumbers in a bit of salt and refrigerate for 20 minutes to 1 hour, then drain the water. The salt will draw out the excess moisture from the cucumbers – effectively “sweating” them – which leaves the cucumbers crunchy. This helps to prevent the salad from ending up in a pool of liquid with a watery dressing.
- Rinse the cucumbers in water – After draining the water, I rinse off the cucumber under running water for about 5-10 seconds then gently squeeze out the excess water. The dish might end up being too salty if you skip this step since I’m using soy sauce in this recipe.
- Making ahead and storage – This salad is best when served immediately. However, if you need to make them ahead of time, store the thinly sliced cucumbers in an airtight container in the fridge, together with the dressing in a separate container. It will hold for roughly 2 days in the fridge.
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Easy Asian Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 5 Persian cucumbers
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 3/4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3/4 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp chili oil
- 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Rinse and slice one end of the cucumber at an angle.
- Continue slicing at an angle. Slices should look more oval than round. Thickness should be up to preference.
- Add to a bowl/container and sprinkle 1/2 tsp of salt.
- Mix that well and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to draw out the water.
- Drain the water and give the cucumbers a quick 10 seconds rinse before returning back to the bowl/container.
- Add sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, chili oil and sesame seeds.
- Stir until well combined and serve. Enjoy!
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