Published: · Modified: by Igor · This post may contain affiliate links · 30 Comments
Japanese Cucumber Salad or Sunomono Salad is a crunchy, sweet, and tangy Asian salad requiring only a few simple ingredients. It is great as an appetizer or a side dish!
This time I want to share a very simple, but a very tasty salad with you. I am not even sure if it's a salad or a side dish, or an appetizer. What I am sure about is that it's insanely delicious! I am talking about a classic Japanese Cucumber Salad, also known as Sunomono. Actually, Sunomono just means "vinegared things" in Japanese, so any other fresh vegetables can be used. However, the cucumber version is undoubtedly the most popular one.
Basically, it's a thinly sliced cucumber marinated in a dressing made of rice vinegar, soy sauce, salt, sugar and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It's also important to squeeze all the water from cucumbers before mixing them with the dressing! I made the traditional and simple version, but you can also add some seaweed (if you like it) or some seafood, such as shrimp, crab, or else. Sunomono is usually made with Japanese cucumbers (Persian cucumbers are also considered a great choice), but I wasn't able to find any of these, so I used a good old English cucumber and the result was outstanding too.
This salad is usually served before the main meal in Japan.It is perfect for increasing your appetite. If you have ever been in Japanese restaurants you should have seen it on the menu. However, I also enjoy it as a side dish with sushi, Japanese cabbage pancakes or any other, even not Japanese, dish!
I love everything about this Japanese Cucumber Salad. It is refreshing, light, and sweet & tangy at the same time! The vinegar dressing does the job. Oh and don't forget the pleasant crunchiness of the cucumbers. Also, it requires almost no time to make. You can throw it together in under 5 minutes!
Japanese Cucumber Salad Recipe (Sunomono)
CookingTheGlobe
This beautiful cucumber salad coming from Japan is sweet, tangy, and crunchy. Can be served as an appetizer or a side dish!
Thinly slice the cucumber. You can do it either by hand or using a food processor. Rub the slices with salt and drain for 5 minutes in a colander. Rinse under cold running water and squeeze them tightly to remove water. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar until the sugar dissolves.
Add the dressing to the cucumber slices, sprinkle with sesame seeds and mix well. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 48kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Oh my goodness, this is a wonderful dish! This recipe popped up in my Pinterest feed this morning. My husband literally just gave me a mandoline two days ago, and it made prepping the cucumbers so fast and easy -- so I was especially excited to try this. So light and refreshing. Thank you for this, Igor!
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Igor
You are welcome, Lorry. I am glad you enjoyed this salad!
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Katherine L Benson
I served this with a teriyaki flank steak, stir fry sugar snap peas and sticky white rice....perfect! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
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Igor
Sounds like a perfect dinner!
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Steven Burrell
I've never cooked before but I saw this recipe and though I'd try it along with your cucumber salad recipe as well and I'm happy to report they both came out perfect. Thanks so much for inspiration Igor! 🙂
The lighting was terrible but here is a picture of both!
Sunomono (酢の物) refers to vinegar-based dishes, and they are commonly served as a side dish to the main meal. These light refreshing vinegar salads are a great start to any meal as the sourness from the vinegar helps whet your appetite.
Sunomono (vinegared things) is a salad that features a rice vinegar or lemon-based dressing and is typically served in small bowls as a side dish or appetizer.
Japanese cucumbers are mild and crunchy, with an unsweet melon-like flavor. The skins can also be eaten, although you could peel them in alternating green stripes for aesthetics.
They are a good source of vitamins C and A, potassium, manganese, folate, dietary fiber and magnesium. They are cool, crisp, nutritious and, as dieters know, low in calories. Summer Dance is a hybrid Japanese cucumber bred by Takii and Co., Ltd. It produces glossy, deep-green fruit about 8 in.
The English or hot house (leftmost and middle pictures above) and Japanese (rightmost pictures above) varieties belong in this category. They have a thinner skin and little or no seeds.
Tako Sunomono (Octopus Salad) is yet another variation of Sunomono, sliced vegetables soaked in sweet vinegar sauce. While the Sunomono can be as simple as a small dish of cucumber with some sesame seeds, we often mix in seafood such as Tako (octopus) or crab.
An observational study led by Professor Hiroaki Kanouchi from Osaka Metropolitan University presents the first evidence that eating sunomono—a Japanese vinegared side dish—correlates to lower blood pressure categorization in men. "The benefits of vinegar in a healthy diet are well known.
Japanese food has its own version, known as Otsumami, or Sakana. Typically eaten alongside drinks at Izakaya bars, this family of finger foods is a full-on savoury adventure. We've collected a few of these dishes for you to try at home. They're fun to cook and even more fun to eat.
Cucumbers need to be refrigerated to stay fresh, the general rule is if they are refrigerated at the store they should be refrigerated at home - the store wouldn't waste energy keeping them cold if they didn't need to be. There's no magic involved, keep them in the vegetable drawer.
Japanese cucumbers can grow quite long, commonly being picked when they are at least 12 inches. Like other longer varieties, they are thin skinned and have minimal seeds. They are of the sweetest and most flavorful cucumbers.
Differences Between Zucchini & Cucumber. Fruit or Vegetable: Though they may look similar, cucumbers and zucchini do not belong to the same family. Cucumbers belong to the gourd family while zucchini belongs to the Cucurbita family. Technically speaking, cucumbers are considered to be a fruit by many people.
Japanese pickles (漬物, tsukemono) are an important part of the Japanese diet, served with practically every traditional meal alongside rice and miso soup. They are valued for their unique flavors and commonly used as a garnish, relish, condiment, palate cleanser or digestive.
The four recipes are Kyuri-su (cucumber sunomono), Tako-su (octopus sunomono), Kani-su (crab sunomono), and kaiso moriwase-su (mixed seafood sunomono).
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