Asian Cucumber Salad

[fauxklore]

In my attempt to try a new recipe every month, I made an Asian cucumber salad yesterday. Basically, peel, half (or quarter), and remove seeds from a large cucumber and slice it. Sprinkle with kosher salt and let sit for a half hour or so for the bitter juices to drain out. Wash and dry. Combine with a half an onion (coarsely chopped), a jalapeno (minced), 2 T. rice vinegar, 2 T. sesame oil and 1 T. soy sauce. Refrigerate for about 3-4 hours for flavors to blend.

It was a good enough way to use up a cucumber, but not exciting enough to make again and not as spicy as I was hoping for. I ate it with some tuna sashimi and was surprised that it seemed to clash with the pickled ginger.

Comments

[guyklose.livejournal.com]

Hi Miriam: I tried something very similar a few months back. The recipe called for cucumber, rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar, garlic and chiles. I out-thought myself and used (a little too much) sriracha instead of garlic and chiles. I liked it, but it was a little too intense to eat by itself.

I mostly ended up eating it with cottage cheese (or maybe some yogurt would have worked). I was shooting for a Korean-like banchan and I'd say it was fairly close.