Cucumber Salad With Soy, Ginger and Garlic

By Martha Rose Shulman

Updated April 30, 2017

  • Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
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Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(5,854)
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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.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4

  • 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

Ingredient Substitution Guide
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.

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Preparation

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
5,854 user ratings
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Comments

Melissa

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 Fergus

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.

JD

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.

Long Beach, CA baker

I thought this was great. Will keep in the rotation of my cucumber salads. Very easy and a crowd favorite.

Erin M

I'm lazy and didn't salt the cucumbers beforehand and it still turned out amazing. I also dubbed a touch of chili garlic paste for the cayenne.

LuLu

I added Edamame beans to the salad. Added a nice crunch!

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