A refreshing and simple Asian cucumber salad made up of marinated cucumbers in a simple, yet flavor-packed, vinegar, soy, and sesame oil dressing!
Recently I’ve been trying to mix up my salads, and this delicious Asian cucumber salad came onto my radar. Taking just a few minutes to prepare, this healthy fresh cucumber salad recipe uses simple ingredients with complex flavors. The result is a refreshingly light yet satisfying appetizer or side dish.
Personally, I think that cucumbers masquerade themselves as a humble ingredient, tricking us into downplaying their role in our food. The majority of the time here in the UK, cucumber is an addition to a salad or meal, but rarely the star of the show. Luckily, I love cucumbers, and this Asian cucumber salad will have you coming back for more, time and time again.
Not to mention that this recipe is also healthy, extremely quick to prepare, dairy-free, can be made gluten-free, vegan, and a genuinely delicious light salad! In terms of ingredients, it is relatively similar to a Sunomono Japanese cucumber salad, but with a few tweaks.
What Is Sunomono Salad?
Sunomono literally translates to ‘vinegared dish,’ and usually refers to a simple cucumber salad. The salad often includes wakame and is marinated in a vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar dressing. The result is a dish that perfectly balances sweet and sour, with the added umami of the wakame.
Traditionally Sunomono is made using small Japanese cucumbers. These are seedless and contain less water than some other varieties, so hold up well when marinated. It is also traditional to use rice vinegar (also called rice wine vinegar), rather than different white vinegar varieties.
This refreshing Asian salad is not only a wonderful Summer dish served alongside a protein (usually fish or meat). It is also often served in Japanese Sushi restaurants as an appetizer.
While my Asian cucumber salad is similar to Sunomono salad, I’ve included sesame oil as part of the marinade, for additional flavor. I’ve also used simple white vinegar (although this can be swapped to rice vinegar too).
What Cucumber To Use
When making a cucumber salad, the choice of cucumber is fairly important. There are several kinds of cucumber available to us, but not all work well for this type of dish.
Japanese and Persian cucumbers work best as they are smaller in size. The former is entirely seedless, and the latter almost seedless. However, luckily for us in the UK, English cucumbers are another great option.
While English cucumbers are bigger in size and contain some seeds, they are still lower in water content than other varieties. Just don’t be tempted to use regular (American) cucumbers as they have much higher water content and thick skin.
How To Make The Asian Cucumber Salad
This entire recipe is made up of only a few ingredients and takes just minutes to put together. In fact, this marinated cucumber salad contains just four steps (5, if you pre-salt the cucumbers).
Refer to the recipe card for full instructions, ingredients list, and recipe notes.
Begin by slicing the cucumbers. You can cut them into thin coins by knife, use a mandolin for paper-thin slices, or spiralize as I have. All will produce different final textures.
Optional Step*: Salt the cucumbers. To do this, simply sprinkle your chopped cucumber liberally with salt in a colander. Leave to rest for around 5 minutes then squeeze out all the excess liquid.
Next, chop the spring onions into fairly thin slices. Prepare a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients: soy sauce**, white vinegar***, sesame oil, coconut sugar****, chili powder, and sesame seeds.
Add the cucumber to the bowl and mix well. You can then either serve the salad immediately or leave it to marinate for a few hours in the fridge.
Top with extra sesame seeds, chili flakes, etc.
* If I’m making this recipe to consume immediately, or within a couple of hours, then I won’t always salt the cucumber. However, if you’re making it in advance, or just want to reduce the risk of them getting mushy, then complete this step.
** To make this recipe gluten-free, you can swap out the soy sauce for tamari.
*** You could also use rice vinegar (aka rice wine vinegar)
**** You can swap out the sugar for maple syrup or another natural sweetener.
Storage Instructions:
You can eat the cucumber salad immediately or leave it in the fridge for a few hours to marinade. I actually prefer leaving it for a bit, so the cucumbers soak up all the flavors more. If leaving to marinate for a few hours, then give it a quick stir every hour or so.
Just be aware that the longer the cucumbers marinades, the more juice they will release. Thus, the thinner the sauce will become, and they will also lose their ‘crunch.’ For that reason, I suggest only storing this cucumber salad in your fridge for 1-2 days maximum.
Over time the effect you get is similar to pickling (like these Homemade Easy Pickled Cucumbers).
Recipe Notes & Variations:
- The texture of the dish will vary depending on the way you prepare your cucumber. Thinly sliced by knife vs. paper-thin by mandolin vs. spiralized, will all have different results.
- To pad out this Asian cucumber salad into a meal, add some rice noodles and protein of your choice.
- Other optional ingredients include shredded carrot, edamame, avocado, red onion or shallots, red pepper, sugar snap peas, sweetcorn, etc.
- Toasted sesame seeds will give the salad additional texture and flavor.
- If you like it spicier, then add in some sriracha or other hot sauce. It goes really well with the other marinade ingredients. You could also include additional red pepper flakes.
- Feel free to also add wakame or a seaweed blend sprinkle to top your Asian salad.
The Asian Cucumber Salad Recipe
Asian Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber
- 3 stalks spring onion
- 1 tBsp soy sauce
- 1 tBsp sesame oil
- 1 tBsp coconut sugar or cane sugar/ maple syrup
- 2 tsp white vinegar or rice vinegar
- ½ tsp sesame seeds
- ⅛ tsp chilli powder
Instructions
- Slice the cucumbers. You can cut them into thin coins by knife, use a mandoline for paper-thin slices, or spiralize as I have. All will produce different final textures.
- Optional Step*: Salt the cucumbers, to do this simply sprinkle your chopped cucumber liberally with salt in a colander. Leave to rest for around 5 minutes then squeeze out all the excess liquid.
- Chop the spring onions into fairly thin slices. Prepare a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients: soy sauce**, white vinegar***, sesame oil, coconut sugar****, chili powder, and sesame seeds.
- Add the cucumber to the bowl and mix well. You can then either serve the salad immediately or leave it to marinate for a few hours in the fridge.
- Top with extra sesame seeds, chilli flakes, etc.
- Storage Instructions:You can eat the cucumber salad immediately or leave it in the fridge for a few hours to marinade. I actually prefer leaving it for a bit, so the cucumbers soak up all the flavors more. If leaving to marinade for a few hours then give it a quick stir every hour or so. Just be aware that the longer the cucumbers marinades, the more juice they will release. Thus, the thinner the sauce will become, and they will also lose their 'crunch'. For that reason, I suggest only storing this cucumber salad in your fridge for 1-2 days maximum.Over time the effect you get is similar to pickling.
Notes
Recipe Notes & Variations:
- The texture of the dish will vary depending on the way you prepare your cucumber. Thinly sliced by knife vs. paper-thin by mandoline vs. spiralized, will all have different results.
- To pad out this Asian cucumber salad into a meal, add some rice noodles and protein of your choice.
- Other optional ingredients include shredded carrot, edamame, avocado, red onion or shallots, red pepper, sugar snap peas, sweetcorn, etc.
- Toasted sesame seeds will give the salad additional texture and flavor.
- If you like it spicier then add in some sriracha or other hot sauce. It goes really well with the other marinade ingredients. You could also include additional red pepper flakes.
- Feel free to also add wakame or a seaweed blend sprinkle to top your Asian salad.
Nutrition
Other Summer Salad Recipes You May Like:
If you have any questions, leave a comment below, I’d also really appreciate a recipe rating. Also, If you love this recipe as much as I do, love seeing your recreations, so feel free to tag me on Instagram @AlphaFoodie.
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