Japanese-Style Cucumber Salad With Sesame Dressing
- Ready In:
- 10mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
2-4
ingredients
- 2 long english-style cucumbers
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- dashi stock, granules (a pinch , leave out if not available)
- 2 teaspoons sugar (or equivalent sweetener of your choice)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 -4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1 pinch salt (optional, to taste)
directions
- Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon.
- Cut up the cucumber into bite sized pieces. Bash them up a bit with the side of your kitchen knife - this allows the dressing to sink into them.
- Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan, shaking occasionally, until a few seeds pop. Immediately transfer the seeds to a plate (if you leave them in the pan they may get burned).
- Mix the lemon juice, vinegar, soy sauce, dashi stock granules and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved. Taste, and add a pinch of salt if you think it needs it. Add the sesame oil (or you can just drizzle on the sesame oil when you assemble the salad).
- Combine the cucumbers with the dressing and the sesame seeds. Serve right away or leave to marinate in the refrigerator for a stronger flavor.
- Note: If you're using small Japanese cucumbers any other small, immature cucumber, you don’t need to de-seed them. Just cut them up and bash a bit. (This bashing thing, is a real cooking method in Japanese cooking. It helps the flavors to penetrate the bashed up vegetable better.).
- If you use white balsamic vinegar instead of the rice or white wine vinegar, you can decrease or even omit the sugar.
- This sesame dressing is very versatile. Try it with any number of vegetables. It’s great on a leafy green salad. You can increase the sesame oil if you want it to have a richer sesame flavor. Add some chili pepper flakes to make it spicy, and/or some grated garlic for a more Korean-tasting twist.Add some shredded poached chicken breast to the cucumbers for a more substantial salad.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
momaphet
United States