Cucumber Sunomono Salad
by Dawn T in Rouxbe RecipesThinly sliced cucumbers are tossed with rice wine vinegar, mirin and chili flakes. This Asian-inspired dish is delicious a...
| Comments: 17 | Views: 20136 | Success: 94% |
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Thinly sliced cucumbers are tossed with rice wine vinegar, mirin and chili flakes. This Asian-inspired dish is delicious a...
| Comments: 17 | Views: 20136 | Success: 94% |
I came across news of Pepsi's latest flavor: Ice Cucumber!
I would definitely give it a try. Cola is refreshing. Cucumbers are refreshing. Combined it has potential. Released yesterday (and only in Japan for a limited time) it's been doing brisk business so other people must have followed the same logic that I have.
Link to their press release AND WITH PHOTO (post Google translation):
http://tinyurl.com/2eal9q
This was quite a recipe! Thank you Rouxbe so much for providing it. I made it twice for separate groups of diners last week, and they all liked it.
1) I deviated a bit from the recipe: I substituted distilled white vinegar in place of rice wine vinegar because I had run out of the latter and no time to go get more. I also added 1 Tbl of sesame oil which provided a really nice nuttiness, and added sliced radishes for color. (Although the radishes lost their red after soaking in the liquid overnight.)
2) This recipe taught me a cooking fundamental: Always, always use the safety shield when slicing on a mandolin! See my middle finger? See that flesh wound on the tip of it? While I like to put something of myself in my dishes, I try not to practice that literally. I'm pretty sure my body's now rebuilt that, ohhh, tablespoon or three of blood I lost.
Despite my attack of dumb, or perhaps because of it, this is a recipe I won't forget! I plan on making this many more times. I'll probably add thin-sliced red onion next time.
...and I wonn't blow off the mandolin safety guard.
I love how quick and easy this is to put together.
I served this with Asian pork chops and the salad was the perfect flavor combination to the sweet and salty pork. I'd like to try this with the addition of some thinly sliced red onion and maybe a bird's eye chile instead of the chili flakes.
Liz
I'd like to second Daniel C's comment that this is similar to a pretty traditional American dish as well. My parents always referred to it as "cucumber salad" and it consists of thinly sliced cucumbers (peeled) dressed with white vinegar, some sugar, salt and pepper. We often eat it at barbecues. This salad would generally be less sweet than the sunomono salad.
I often make this salad with regular cucumbers because it is convenient, but they do contain large amounts of water. Two strategies that have helped me in the past are
1) slicing then seasoning the slices with salt and leaving them to drain in the collander. The salt helps pull some of the water out of them prior to putting the dressing over them.
2) slicing the cucumber once lengthwise and removing the pits with a spoon. This removes a lot of the watery innards and the large pits; but unfortunately also eliminates the beautiful presentation. But when im making them quick for myself, it works in a pinch.
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