Name: Asian Cucumber Salad
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds Turkish, Persian or English cucumbers (about 5 cups sliced); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 4-5 scallions, finely sliced; 1 teaspoon ginger, grated; 1 clove garlic, finely minced; 1/4 cup rice vinegar; 1 tablespoon soy sauce, Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acid or Coconut amino acid.; 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil; 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey, or sugar); 1 teaspoon red chili paste (or sriracha, both optional) more to taste; 1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

This Asian Cucumber Salad is cool and refreshing and pairs well with many things. It’s vegan and gluten-free and is a nice addition to meals and bowls you are already making. Vegan. Watch the video!

This Asian Cucumber Salad is cool and refreshing and pairs well with many things. It's vegan and gluten-free and is a nice addition to meals and bowls you are already making! #cucumbersalad I am not these bones, this flesh, this greying hair, I am the fire inside the shell, passing the light forward.

Here’s a simple recipe for Asian Cucumber Salad, that I think you will fall in love with. It’s fast and easy and light and delicious! Cool, refreshing cucumbers are just what I crave during the hot summer months and this salad is no exception. It hits all the flavor notes as well- such a great combo!

And although I went the generic route and called this “Asian”, you can take this Cucumber Salad in many different directions based on what you are serving. For example, to go with a more Thai theme, you could add fish sauce, lime juice, Thai Basil, and crushed peanuts. To give it more of a Korean twist and add Gochujang. Leave out the chili paste and garlic to give it more of a Japanese spin. You get the idea. 🙂

Asian Cucumber Salad made with rice vinegar, sesame, ginger, garlic and soy is cool and refreshing and pairs well with many things. It's vegan and gluten-free and is a nice addition to meals and bowls you are already making! #cucumbersalad

Ingredients in Asian Cucumber Salad:

Cucumbers: Thin-skinned cucumbers (English, Turkish, Persian) work best here!
Rice vinegar: we use seasoned rice vinegar for the best flavor!
Toasted sesame oil
Soy sauce or use gluten-free liquid amino acids
Sweetener: maple syrup (or honey) or sweetener of choice
Fresh garlic clove
Fresh ginger root
Scallions
Toasted Sesame seeds
Optional: chili paste or chili flakes or sriracha

types of cucumber to use in cucumber salad

What kind of cucumbers to use?

Use thin-skinned burpless cucumbers like Persian, Turkish or English Cucumbers, for the least bitterness and best flavor. Waxy cucumbers will work in a pinch but you will need to peel them first.

Instructions

scoring the skin with a fork, elevates the salad

Expert Tips:

Scoring the cucumber with the tines of a fork before slicing allows the dressing to cling to the cucumbers, making each and every bite more flavorful! A reader recently reminded me of this and it is SO true. Thanks, Joseph!
Salting the cucumber beforehand helps release liquid, also creating a more flavorful salad as the dressing doesn’t get as watered down. Of course, you can skip this if in a hurry.

salt the cucumber to release their juices, making the salad even more flavorful.

So if you have time, salt the cucumbers, and place in a strainer– for 20 minutes or up to a few hours!

strain the cucumber liquid

Chop up your herbs. Here I’m simply using scallions, but feel free to play with chives, cilantro, or even Thai basil!

chop the scallions and gather the dressing ingredients

Asian Dressing Ingredients:

You can directly add these to the salad bowl with the strained cucumbers and toss. Simple!

Asian Cucumber Dressing Ingredients!

Grate a little ginger into the salad.

Grate the ginger

Grate a little garlic into the bowl.

grate the garlic clove

For a little heat- add Red chili paste or sriracha.

add red chili paste for more spice

Mix it all up and adjust salt and spice level to your liking.

Storage

The Asian Cucumber Salad will last 3 days in the fridge- if it makes it that long! You can salt the cucumbers ahead, place them in a strainer over a bowl and place in the fridge overnight.

What to serve with Asian Cucumber Salad:

Variations:

Thai Version: add crushed roasted peanuts, fish sauce and lime juice or tamarind (replace some of the vinegar).
Korean Version: Add Gochujang, cilantro and extra ginger and garlic.
Japanese Version: Leave out the garlic and chili paste, try chive blossoms.

More Favorite cucumber recipes!

This recipe for Asian Cucumber Salad is made with rice vinegar, sesame, ginger, garlic and soy is cool and refreshing and pairs well with many things. It's vegan and gluten-free and is a nice addition to meals and bowls you are already making! #cucumbersalad

Enjoy the Asian Cucumber Salad- please leave your feedback and/or adaptions below, everyone loves reading these!

Hope you are having a lovely week. All is well here, hope it is with you too.

xoxo

Sylvia

Watch the video!