by: Kate McMillan
Prep Time
15 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Prep Time
15 minutes
Yield
4 servings
summary
A crisp and flavorful cucumber salad is the perfect accompaniment to grilled meat and fish, especially our Fiery Chicken Skewers. There are so many Asian cucumber salad variations, but we especially love this one which is finished with fresh and aromatic Thai basil and salty crunchy chopped peanuts.
ingredients
- 6 Persian cucumbers (or 1½ English cucumbers)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ tablespoons tamari or light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ small clove garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons fresh Thai basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoons lightly salted peanuts, chopped
directions
- Thinly slice the cucumbers and place them on a plate. Sprinkle the salt over the cucumbers and transfer to the refrigerator for 15 minutes to draw out excess water. Give the cucumbers a very quick rinse and dry them with paper towels.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the tamari, rice wine vinegar, honey, sesame oil, garlic and sesame seeds. Add the cucumbers and toss to combine. Gently stir in the basil and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with the chopped peanuts and serve at once.
notes
The reason we like Persian or English cucumbers for this Thai basil and cucumber salad recipe is that they have far fewer seeds.
Thai basil is a little more robust than sweet basil, but if you can’t find it, sweet basil works beautifully as well.
The reason to salt cucumbers is to draw out as much of their natural water as possible. This way they absorb more of the flavors we are adding into the salad.
We like this cool salad as-is paired with our Fiery Chicken Skewers. but if you want to add some heat, add chili oil to taste for a nice kick.
Tamari is gluten-free soy sauce. Use light soy sauce, as regular is simply too salty for this dish.
