Pickled Sesame Cucumbers
A crisp fresh bright taste you can make any time of year.
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Crisp, light, and packed full of refreshing flavor, nothing is quite like a bite of cucumber to cool down a warm weather day. Here, your average cucumber is enhanced with this recipe for Pickled Sesame Cucumbers.
Cucumbers are sliced thin and tossed with carrots, daikon, and a complex soy-based sesame sauce. This recipe for Pickled Sesame Cucumbers takes the humble cucumber and amplifies its taste and texture with simple tricks.
Start by slicing cucumbers thin alongside carrots and daikon. The vegetables then get salted and are left undisturbed for ten minutes. This step draws out the excess moisture and makes for a crisp, not soggy, cucumber.
Once the cucumbers, carrots, and daikon have been salted and rested, rinse them under cold water to remove the excess salt.
Don’t be afraid to squeeze them, they can handle it. Squeezing the cucumbers, carrots, and daikon with your hands pulls the moisture out better than simply patting them dry with a towel.
Next, work on mixing the dressing, which is a blend of rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and sesame seeds.
Pour the dressing over the cucumbers, carrots, and daikon, tossing to combine.
Transfer everything into jars and refrigerate until chilled.
These Pickled Sesame Cucumbers are a refreshing companion to lunches and dinners alike.
Whether you add it on top of your salad or eat it alongside your dinner, it’ll be a textural delight full of bright, clean flavors complimented and enhanced by mild notes of sweetness and saltiness.
Pickled Sesame Cucumbers
Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 3 Japanese or Persian cucumbers, partially peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/2 medium carrot, cut into very thin sticks
- 1/2 small daikon, cut into very thin sticks (optional)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (plus for garnish)
Preparation
- Combine prepped cucumbers, carrots, and daikon in a medium bowl.
- Add in salt, tossing to evenly coat the vegetables.
- Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes at room temperature. This will draw out the excess moisture.
- Rinse the vegetables thoroughly, squeezing them in your hands to draw out the excess water. Don’t be afraid to squeeze the vegetable hard to draw out the moisture.
- In another bowl combine vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and sesame seeds, whisking to dissolve and evenly distribute the sugar.
- Add the vegetables to the dressing, tossing to coat.
- Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour before serving. They can be made the night before and served the next day.
- Before serving, garnish with more sesame seeds.
Recipe adapted from Hungry Huy.
