This Sesame Cucumber Salad can be prepared easily and makes a very attractive side dish or starter for a Korean feast, or other Asian meal.

There are many cold dishes in Asian cuisine featuring cucumbers which are first salted and then later served in a dressing of some sort. Sometimes, the cucumber is allowed to ferment slightly in order to produce a nice lactic acid pickle and, at other times, as here, the salting time is just brief enough to soften the flesh and make it receptive to flavorings. Today’s dish definitely falls within the latter category. It doesn’t hail from any particular cuisine but would be equally at home on a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean table.

How to make Sesame Cucumber Salad

The central feature of all cucumber salads of this nature, is the salting process, in which salt is sprinkled over slices or sticks of cumber to allow them to macerate. During the process, the cucumber will throw of salty juices. Once the flesh is sufficiently softened, the cucumber will be rinsed to remove excess salt, and then is lightly squeezed dry.

In a related style of dish, the cucumber is lightly pickled by allowing it to ferment at room temperature for a while. The brine produce by the salt and expressed juices help protect the cucumber from spoilage organisms while allowing lactic acid bacteria to proliferate and produce the tart acidity of Lactic Acid Fermentation. Naturally, this style of dish takes longer to prepare.

The liquid expelled by the salting and squeezing the cucumber will be replaced by the dressing during marination, so that the flesh takes up the flavor. The marination time does not need to be long and, in all, little appetizer or Banchan style salads of this sort can be prepared and ready for service in about an hour or so.

Serving Sesame Cucumber Salad

I used some Korean Chili Threads for garnish on the salad prepared for this post, but anything along the same lines would suffice. Chopped red chili would be great for some presentations but, on this date, I served this dish alongside Crispy Skin Pork Belly dressed with Red Chili Oil and I didn’t want to be too repetitive in flavorings.

The Pork was also delicious, BTW ….

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