Sesame Cucumber Radish Salad

Fresh and spicy, this sesame cucumber radish salad is a great accompaniment to any pan-fried (or roasted) protein like chicken or fish. It’s light, flavorful and delicious. 

This summer the Channel Islands have been unseasonably cold and rainy so I’ve been looking for ways to add a little heat and freshness to our lives. This cucumber radish salad was the perfect side dish for pan-fried salmon with Asian flavors. A little soy, a little ginger and garlic. Perfection.

I can also attest that this salad is even tasty the next day. And still crunchy!  

Sesame Cucumber Radish Salad

Don’t get too caught up in the weight of the cucumber. A little more or less won’t matter. Same with the radishes. Want to add more, go for it! If you can’t find English/telegraph cucumbers, use regular ones but scoop the seeds out. This recipe is adapted from one on Budget Bytes.

Ingredients

1/4 cup or 60ml rice vinegar

1 small red chili pepper 

4 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

1/2 English cucumber (about 7 oz or 200g)

4 radishes

2 green onions

Scant 1/4 cup or about 30g chopped peanuts

Method

Mince the chili pepper as finely as you can. Cut the roots off of the green onions and discard. Cut of the white parts and any harder, thick green parts and mince them. 

In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, chili pepper and the minced green onion parts. Set aside for five minutes. This tempers the pepper and onion while also infusing the vinegar with heat and flavor, making a more even distribution of the spice throughout the salad. 

Slice the cucumber and put it in a bowl.

Now whisk in the sugar, sesame oil, and salt into the vinegar. Set the dressing aside.

Slice the radishes thinly and add them to the cucumber bowl.

Slice the green parts of the onion snd set a small portion aside to garnish before serving. 

Pour the dressing over the sliced cucumbers and radishes. 

Add in the bigger pile of sliced green onions and stir to combine. 

Cover with cling film and refrigerate until ready to eat. Roughly chop the peanuts.

Give the salad a brief stir occasionally. The cucumber will release liquid. How much depends on how long your salad is refrigerated. If it’s a lot, I like to transfer the vegetables to a serving plate before adding the chopped peanuts.

Put the cucumbers and radishes on a serving plate. Spoon over the dressing, straining off most of the liquid but making sure to include the minced green onion and chili peppers. 

Top with the chopped peanuts and the sliced green onion parts. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with cucumbers. Many thanks to our host Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out all the links below. 

• Cucumber and Avocado Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cucumber Raita from Cook with Renu
• Cucumber Rosettes from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Roasted Apricots, Cucumber, and Tomato Gazpacho with Alioli from Culinary Cam
• Semolina Cucumber Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Sesame Cucumber Radish Salad from Food Lust People Love

 

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