Cucumber Salad
This light and crisp cucumber salad is the ideal accompaniment to rich, fried, or spicy dishes, offering a refreshing contrast. Perfect with meals like ribs, Cajun shrimp boils, tonkatsu, or poached salmon, it provides a cooling balance to more intense flavors. To elevate this salad, follow two key steps: first, peel the cucumbers in alternating strips for a combination of texture and flavor absorption. Second, sprinkle with salt and allow the cucumbers to drain to remove excess water, resulting in a more flavorful and less watery salad. Though this dish can be prepared up to two days in advance, the cucumbers may lose some of their crispness.
Ingredients
- Cucumbers Persian, mini seedless, or English
- Salt
- Vinegar choose from red or white wine, rice, or sherry vinegar
- Honey or granulated sugar
- Red onion thinly sliced and rinsed
- Fresh dill chopped
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Begin by peeling the cucumbers in alternating strips, trimming off the ends. If you prefer, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Slice the cucumbers thinly, then place them in a colander set in the sink. Sprinkle the cucumbers with salt—either Diamond Crystal kosher salt or fine sea salt—and set them aside to drain for a minimum of 5 minutes, or up to 30 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the vinegar and honey until the honey dissolves completely. Gently shake the cucumbers to remove any excess moisture, then transfer them to the bowl with the vinegar mixture. Add the red onion and chopped dill, then stir everything together. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.