To finish this week of healthy Asian food, let's make a salad to go with our hibachi shrimp and spicy cabbage, OK?
It's the perfect complement to any Asian meal, and it takes MINUTES to make - trust me!
Sesame Cucumber Salad
As per the usual, this has no measurements - everything will be drizzled. If you want to go nuts you can whisk the dressing in advance (I'll put some amounts below for you anal folks), but it's not really necessary, I promise!
- Cucumber
- Onion
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- Sesame Seeds
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Ponzu
- 1 tablespoon Sushi Seasoning/vinegar
First, you'll slice the onion and cucumber very thinly - about 1/2 small onion for 1/2 large cucumber is a good ration, but use whatever amounts you like!
Put the veggies in a shallow dish - if you do that you won't have to stir them as often as if you but them in a deep bowl. You want all the cucumbers to absorb the delicious dressing!
To the cucumbers, drizzle in ponzu then sushi vinegar.
The ponzu and sushi seasoning will come about 1/4 inch from the bottom of the dish - obviously use more seasonings if you're making this for a big group.
Duh.
Last, drizzle on a teeny bit of sesame oil - it's strong!
That's just delicious! Now, marinate this in the fridge for 10-30 minutes while you make the rest of whatever super simple meal you're working on!
Toss the cucumbers around once while they're marinating if you think of it. If you forget, life won't end. I promise.
Right before serving, sprinkle the cucumber salad with sesame seeds. I like to serve it in small bowls on the side of the meal so everyone gets lots of dressing, but you could serve this over lettuce, cabbage, or right next to some plain rice and grilled chicken!
You'll LOVE this, trust me!
I make a very similar cucumber dressing to this so am pleased I can experiment with a new version like yours. Thanks!
Let me know how it goes!
Hi: I found your cucumber salad recipe after finding the hibachi shrimp recipe and look forward to trying it. I'm not a big cucumber fan but the marinaded cucumbers they serve at the Japanese restaurant are my favorite way to eat them! Is this similar to that? It's hard for me to tell. They don't serve it with the marinade - just the cucumbers (after they've been marinaded) in a bowl. I asked them once what was in it and I was told lemon, sugar, onion and vinegar, so this really sounds like the same thing!
Thanks for the help and for posting the recipe. I've looked for this for a long time!
This is definitely similar. More like a pickle than a cucumber. I hope you like them!
Yay, thanks! Now if I can just find the Japanese onion broth they serve too I'll be all set 🙂