Punchy little cucumbers that can make a great side salad or garnish. It all depends on how you slice or dice them.
Used in this Recipe
Marinated Cucumbers
Crunchy, tangy side dish or garnish. You can make with sliced, chopped or matchstick cucumbers. An Asian influence marinade of rice vinegar, sesame seed oil and a bit of sweetness to balance.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar (season or unseasoned)
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame seed oil
- 2 tsp kosher fine grind salt
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 c warm water
- 1 clove garlic mashed or minced
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper freshly ground best
- 1 lb cucumbers sliced, diced or matchsticked
Instructions
Make Marinade
- Combine vinegar, warm water, salt, sugar in a large bowl. Stir well to dissolve.
- Whisk in sesame seed oil, garlic and black pepper.
Prepare Cucumbers
- If using thinner skinned cucumber, you can leave the skin on for crispier texture. Other wise, peel cucumber in long ribbons, leaving gaps of skin left on.
- Slices: Leave skin on or partially peel cucumber leaving skin on in alternating stripes. You can leave the cucumber whole or cut it in half for half rounds. For a salad slice, cut about 1/8" thick. For a thin garnish, slice about 1/16 inch thick – it should be slightly see thru.
- Ribbons: Leave cucumber whole. Start by peeling off 2 long ribbons of skin length wise. Then start a peel with just the edge of the skin and peel one long ribbon. Rotate a bit and continue to do long peels of the cucumber all the way around. You can continue to peel (without skin) until you get to the center seed party.
- Diced: Peel the cucumber. Cut in half length wise. Cut off or scoop out seeds if they are large not pleasant to eat (skip for Persian cucumbers). Cut each side lengthwise in 1/4 to 1/2" width (depending on how big you want them). Then cut horizontally in the same width to create squares.
- Matchsticks: Peel cucumbers. Cut in half and cut out or scoop out seeds. Cut each side horizontally into 1-inch sections. Cut each 1-inch section lengthwise into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices. Stack 2-3 slices and lay flat on cutting board. Cut lengthwise again to make matchstick shapes.
Marinade Cucumbers
- Place cucumbers evenly around in a dish or jar with waterproof sealed lid.
- Add marinade to dish to cover the cucumbers.
- Place lid to seal the cucumbers in with the marinade.
- Make sure the cucumber stay coated. If cucumbers aren't fully covered, you can vigorously shake the container up and down to coat the cucumbers (making sure lid does not give way). If you think it might drip, do this over the sink. Shake them about every 30 min for a 2-hour window
- Place container in the refrigerator to chill and marinade for at least 2 hours.