Sunomono Cucumber Salad

Name: Sunomono Cucumber Salad: Japanese Recipe in 15 Minutes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Large cucumbers 2; White sesame seeds 1 tbsp (10 g); Salt, brown sugar, rice vinegar, light soy sauce to taste

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15 mins

This very simple and tasty Japanese cucumber salad, sunomono (酢の物), is made very quickly. It is a hugely popular lunch appetizer. In vegetable season it is served everywhere. It works both as a plain starter and as a side dish for some meals, especially fried fish, whetting the appetite while staying light and refreshing. It is important that the salad is sour enough: su (酢) means “vinegar”.

The appetizer is light and crunchy. The cucumbers are sliced thinly and salted to draw out some of the moisture. The dressing is usually a mix of rice vinegar, sugar and soy sauce. An important component is sesame seeds, sprinkled over the cucumbers before serving. You can make it in just 10-15 mins and serve it at room temperature.

3 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

2 servings

Large cucumbers 2
White sesame seeds 1 tbsp
(10 g)
Salt, brown sugar, rice vinegar, light soy sauce to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Japanese sunomono is made from local Japanese varieties of cucumber. In our shops they more often sell so-called “English” cucumbers, long and smooth, packed in rows in cardboard boxes (some kind of hybrid). They work perfectly: you do not need to peel them, they have very few seeds and hardly release any juice. They are also not the juiciest, unlike local varieties that grow in any vegetable garden.
Slice the cucumbers into thin rounds across the fruit, very thin to be exact. You can use a knife or a slicer, whichever is more convenient. Wash the cucumbers and dry them. After that all that is left is to slice them and put them in a bowl.
This is an important step: mix the sliced cucumbers with 1 tbsp of salt (18 g). The salt should draw out some moisture so that the salad stays crunchy. After 5-10 mins, squeeze each slice lightly with your fingers to remove the liquid. As a rule, the appetizer is noticeably salty. If you do not like too much salt, you can quickly rinse the slices under running water before squeezing.
Prepare the salad dressing in an ordinary cup. Mix 50 ml of rice vinegar, 1 tbsp of brown sugar (14 g) and 1 tbsp of light soy sauce. Stir the mixture well and wait a few minutes for the sugar to dissolve. After that the dressing is ready.
Divide the cucumbers between small salad bowls or bowls. Pour the dressing over and sprinkle with white sesame seeds. By the way, it is worth toasting the sesame in a dry frying pan and then cooling it, as the flavour will be wonderful. You can also use black sesame, or a mix of white and black seeds.
The salad does not need chilling, so serve it right away. It is a wonderful side for fish, grilled chicken or fried octopus. As extra ingredients you can use seaweed, sweet red onion, green onion or thinly sliced juicy ginger.