Green Tea Marinated Cucumbers

Cookgirl's Note:

From www.redrosetea.com. Tea leaves are oh so interesting to cook with! I have plans next time to test jasmine tea with this recipe....

• Total Time: 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 4 cups

• 3 small cucumbers , peeled and sliced (I used Persian cucumbers)

Green Tea Vinaigrette

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 cup strong brewed green tea (use 2 tea bags)
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce

Directions:

1. Brew 1 cup of green tea. Cool to room temperature. Toast sesame seeds and cool to room temperature.
2. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients with the brewed and cooled green tea; toss with the cucumbers.
3. Cover and marinate for at least 2 hours before serving. For best results, do no marinate for more than 4 hours or cucumbers will break down. Best eaten with 12-24 hours.
4. Yield is estimated.

Reviews

[ms_bold]

I like green tea. I like cucumbers. I associate both with a crisp, clean flavor. But, this combination didn't do that for me. I did like the toasted sesame and cucumber combo, but the marinade had more of a bitter or sour edge that really did taste of watermelon rind (as a previous reviewer suggested). I wanted to like this, but just couldn't decide how to improve it for my taste buds. I will take the toasted sesame seed idea and try it with other cucumber combinations, though.

[Kay Demonbren]

This was an interesting dish. I would like to experiment with other tea flavors to see if the taste changes. I marinated the cucumbers overnight. In the words of my 12-year old son, "It tastes like watermelon rind." Not sure if it was the green tea or the length of time in the marinade that slightly "pickled" the cucumbers. As is, we didn't care for it much, but I do think there should be further experimentation to see if the taste improves.