Asian Spicy Sesame Cucumber Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Asian cucumber salad made of? ›

Place cucumber slices in a colander and sprinkle with salt; set aside to drain for 1 hour. Whisk vinegar and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Add sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds; stir. Rinse salt off cucumber slices by running under cold water; place in a large bowl with sliced red chile peppers.

These vegetables are usually cooked before eating, and salting helps prevent them from getting mushy and bland. According to America's Test Kitchen, "Salting these watery vegetables draws out extra water and flavor molecules.

Salt: The secret to the best cucumber salad is to salt your cucumbers. The salt makes the cucumbers taste better and removes excess water, diluting the dressing. I use sea salt, but any salt will do. Vinegar: I love apple cider vinegar in this dressing, but distilled or white wine vinegar also works nicely.

The Chinese cucumber has a long history in traditional Chinese medicine and has been used to reduce fevers, swelling and coughing. A starch extracted from the root is used for abscesses, menstrual problems, jaundice, and abnormally large amount of urine production.

Cucumbers are often soaked in salt water to remove some of the naturally high water content. Cucumbers will otherwise give up water and dilute the salad dressing. Unpeeled cucumbers are higher in nutritional value as fiber and vitamin A are lost by peeling.

For a quick and easy way to help ensure crisp pickles: soak cucumbers in ice water for 4 to 5 hours before pickling. This is a safer method for making crisp pickles. Using lime, or calcium hydroxide, in solution for soaking cucumbers changes the amount of acid in the cucumber tissue.

Cucumbers are perfectly safe for dogs to eat, and offer a low-calorie, crunchy snack that many dogs love. Cucumbers only contain about 8 calories per one-half cup of slices, compared to the 40 calories in a single medium dog biscuit. Cucumbers are also very low in sodium and fat-free.

While they may look like tentacles, the thin, curly threads that come off the cucumber are actually natural and normal growths on your cucumber plant. These tendrils (not tentacles) should not be removed.

By cutting off the ends and rubbing them together, you can enhance this reaction and prevent the cucurbitacins from spreading to the rest of the cucumber. The best way to do this is to do it before you peel the cucumber (if you are peeling it at all) and then give it a quick rinse to remove the white fluid.

Spices: Cucumbers pair well with spices such as black pepper, cumin, and coriander. Fruits: Cucumbers pair well with fruits such as tomatoes, watermelon, and berries. Meats: Cucumbers pair well with meats such as chicken, salmon, and tuna. Seafood: Cucumbers pair well with seafood such as shrimp, crab, and oysters.

Why do I taste bitter after eating cucumber? ›

The actual cause of bitterness in cucumbers (which also occurs in other gourds, like zucchini,) is due to the compound cucurbitacin. It's always present in cucumbers, but the levels change based on the vegetables' growing process. The higher the level of cucurbitacin, the more bitter the cucumber will be.

Bitter melon: Bitter melon looks like a cucumber with light green, warty, wrinkled skin.

For the last couple of years, I have been growing Beit Alpha and Asian cucumbers — great for both slicing and pickling. These are long, either curved or straight, with generally tender skin. The flavor of the flesh is sweet and slightly aromatic (unlike the neutral wetness of a slicing cucumber).

The Japanese cucumber has several advantages over common cucumbers. It is slender, thin-skinned, void of developed seeds, never bitter and entirely edible. The average harvested length is about four inches, while the cucumber is still young. Its skin is forest green and smooth with longitudinal grooves.