Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad

Submitted by MrsDoty

"I received this via email update from America's Test Kitchen. I'm looking forward to employing some of our bumper cucumber crop on this."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 32mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
• 1 red chili pepper, minced (1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 3 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices (looks like a 1/4 moon)
• 4 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thin
• 1⁄4 cup packed fresh basil leaf, chopped
• table salt & fresh ground pepper

directions

1. Bring vinegar and sugar to boil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture reduces by half, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl and cool to room temperature.
2. Whisk in lime juice, ginger, chile, and sesame oil. Toss in cucumbers, scallions, and basil; season with salt and pepper, and let sit for 10 minutes or up to 1 hour. Serve.

Reviews

[MtSkiLover]

Perfect for the Thai Turkey dish as a side. It's just the two of us so I used 1 cucumber and cut the marinade in half just like JanuaryBride. I also substitued lemon juice since I didn't have lime and it was very good. I didn't have fresh or whole dried red chilli peppers so I used red pepper flakes for the heat. I will keep this recipe on hand and make it again.

 

[januarybride]

YUM! I used 1 cucumber and then cut the marinade in half. It was delicious after sitting for only about 30 minutes. I will certainly make this again.

 

[khg202]

This is definitely the best cucumber salad recipe I've ever come across -- the strong flavors are a perfect combination of sweet, tart and spicy! I kept the skin on for extra nutrients and it turned out well, although if you do the same, you should make sure you taste the skin first for bitterness (and buy organic). I substituted lime with lemon juice because that's what I had on hand and it turned out well.

 

[hungry hokie]

Nice refeshing strong flavor.

 

[Faux Cordon Bleu]

This is definately the best thing that can be done with cucumbers. Next time I will add more chili. I used shallots instead of scallions and a mix of tarragon, oregano and rosemary in the absence of basil. Still loved it.