Japanese Restaurant Cucumber Salad

Simple and easy to make, with a sweet and spicy dressing that adds a refreshing bite. This recipe comes from a lovely, now-elderly Japanese woman friend who was a second-generation immigrant and patiently endured internment during WWII as a young girl. The cucumber salad is similar to sunomo in Japanese restaurants, but a bit more assertive. The ingredients are available in the Asian or ethnic foods sections of most metropolitan grocery stores. If you're diabetic, use sugar substitute instead of sugar with the same results. Original recipe called for 1 teaspoon MSG also.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 15 mins
• Calories: 55 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Asian (toasted) sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon chili paste (sambal oelek)
• 2 large cucumbers - peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch slices

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Whisk sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, chile paste, and salt together in a bowl. Add cucumbers and stir to coat. Allow salad to marinate for 30 minutes before serving at room temperature.