This Japanese cucumber salad is the right bit of tangy and sweet goodness. So simple and quick to make once you start eating this you won’t be able to stop.
I love cucumbers. I’ve always loved them. Raw, pickled, dipped in Ranch. Anyway I can get them. One of the many reasons I love going to eat sushi is you get that tiny bowl of cucumber salad before your sushi is served. If you haven’t been to a sushi bar that offers the cucumber salad you are missing out.
What is Japanese Cucumber Salad?
The Japanese cucumber salad, also know as Kyuri no Sunomono in Japanese consists of thinly sliced cucumber and sometimes seaweed, marinated in rice vinegar.
You will usually see this being served prior to a meal as a small appetizer when eating Japanese food such as sushi.
Most of the time you will see this dish served without the cucumber seeds. I personally love all the parts of a cucumber so I left the seeds.
What ingredients do I need?
- Cucumbers is the obvious one. There are Japanese cucumbers, but those might be hard to come by. I use just regular cucumbers and this recipe tastes great with them.
- Rice Vinegar is a must for this recipe. You can easily find this vinegar at your local grocery store. Even Walmart carries it.
- Soy sauce. Just use your favorite brand and you don’t need a lot of it
- Sugar brings a nice sweet flavor to this dish. Don’t skip this one.
- Salt you just need a little
- Sesame seeds and which color does not matter. I like mixing both the white and black ones together. It brings a nice pop to the recipe.
How to make Japanese Cucumber Salad
Start by taking your washed cucumber (Photo 1) and a mandoline slicer and cut the cucumbers over a bowl in line slices (Photo 2) Do this to both cucumbers (Photo 3)
Take a small bowl and add the rice vinegar to it (Photo 1) Next add the soy sauce to the bowl (Photo 2) Then Add the sugar (Photo 3) and the salt (Photo 4)
Add the sesame seeds (Photo 5) and stir all the ingredients really well to mix up the sugar and salt to dissolve (Photo 6)
Take your bowl of the vinegar mix and add it to the bowl of cucumbers (Photo 1) Stir everything around to get the cucumbers coated with the vinegar mix (Photo 2) and cover and refrigerate.
Refrigerate for 2 hours with stirring about every 30 minutes to get all the cucumbers marinated
Tips and Tricks
- For cutting the cucumbers I suggest using a mandoline slicer or food processor. This makes this step a lot faster. If you don’t have either just hand slice the cucumbers really thin.
- Make sure the sugar and salt is dissolved before adding it to the bowl of cucumbers. Achieve this by stirring the mixture until dissolved.
- If you want the cucumbers to marinate more evenly refrigerate them in a shallow large dish, such as a casserole dish so the marinate can cover as many cucumbers as possible.
- Don’t forget to stir the cucumbers a couple times while marinating.
And that’s it folks. I literally have to stop myself from eating the whole bowl, it’s that good. Give the recipe a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Other cultured recipes to try
Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Asian Salad
Tom Kha Gai
Or check out all my great Appetizers recipes
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Japanese cucumber salad
Ingredients
- 2 cucumbers sliced thin
- 2 TBSP sesame seeds regular or black or both
- 1/2 cups rice vinegar
- 1 TSP soy sauce
- 2 TSP sugar
- 1/4 TSP salt
Instructions
- Slice cucumbers with a mandoline slicer or in food processor or by hand in thin slices
- Mix together rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and sesame seeds and stir until sugar and salt is dissolved.
- Lay cucumbers flat in a shallow pan and pour mixture over top
- Stir around the cucumbers in the mixture and cover and refrigerate
- Refrigerate for 2 hours stirring every 30 minutes
Notes
- For cutting the cucumbers I suggest using a mandoline slicer or food processor. This makes this step a lot faster. If you don’t have either just hand slice the cucumbers really thin.
- Make sure the sugar and salt is dissolved before adding it to the bowl of cucumbers. Achieve this by stirring the mixture until dissolved.
- If you want the cucumbers to marinate more evenly refrigerate them in a shallow large dish, such as a casserole dish so the marinate can cover as many cucumbers as possible.
- Don’t forget to stir the cucumbers a couple times while marinating.
Nutrition
Update Notes; This recipe was originally posted in September of 2016, but was republished with new photos, cooking tips, and step by step picture instructions May 2019.
I have made this one time and it was delicious using another recipe.
In tasting your recipe the marinade is pretty good using apple cider vinegar. I hope to use rice wine vinegar soon. This time using the sesame seed is different than only the black sesame seeds.