10 minutes · no cook
Asian Cucumber Salad with Pickled Crimini
A sesame cucumber salad with soy sauce, green onion and meaty pickled crimini.
- Time
- 10 minutes
- The jar
- Pickled Crimini
- Ferment
- 21 days
This Asian cucumber salad is crunchy, salty and on the table in ten minutes. The cucumber brings the crunch. Golden Grove Pickled Crimini bring a meaty bite and a clean, tangy finish, so the dressing is just soy sauce and toasted sesame.
No cooking, one bowl. Serve it next to grilled meat, rice or noodles, or eat it straight from the bowl.
Ingredients
- 1 jar Golden Grove Pickled Crimini, drained
- 2 small cucumbers or 1 English cucumber
- 3 green onions
- 1 to 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Method
- Drain the crimini and cut them in half.
- Peel the cucumber in stripes, then cut it into bite-size chunks.
- Slice the green onions.
- Put the cucumber, crimini and green onions in a bowl.
- Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top, add the soy sauce and toss.
- Taste, add a little more soy sauce if you like, and serve.
Why this jar
Crimini are dense, meaty caps that stay firm through 21 days in the brine. Cucumber is all crunch and water. The crimini give the bowl something to chew, and their white wine vinegar brine brings the sharpness a dressing would otherwise need vinegar for.
Make it ahead
Cut the cucumber, crimini and green onions up to a few hours ahead and keep them in the fridge. Cucumber gives off water as it sits, so pour that off, then add the soy sauce and sesame just before serving.
Save the brine
Don't pour the jar's liquid away. A spoonful in place of vinegar makes a quick dressing for the next salad.
Swap the jar
White Shimeji make a lighter, crisper version. Shiitake make a deeper, more savory one. Or build a pack and try all three.