America's Test Kitchen LogoCook's Country LogoCook's Illustrated LogoAmerica's Test Kitchen LogoCook's Country LogoCook's Illustrated Logo

Sweet-and-Tart Cucumber Salad

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on August 22, 2007

Time

35 minutes, plus 1 hour draining and 20 minutes cooling

Yield

Serves 4 as a side dish

Sweet-and-Tart Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

½ cup rice vinegar 2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar 3 medium cucumbers, sliced, salted, and drained (see directions)½ medium red onion, sliced very thin2 small jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced (or more, to taste)

Before You Begin

Based on a common Thai relish served with saute, this salad is also great with grilled salmon or grilled chicken breasts.

Instructions

  1. To prepare the cucumbers: Peel, halve lengthwise, and scoop seeds from cucumbers. Stack halves flat side down; slice diagonally 1/4-inch thick. Toss with 1 tablespoon salt in strainer or colander set over bowl; weight with water-filled, one-gallon-sized zipper-lock freezer bag, sealed tight. Drain for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 hours. Transfer to medium bowl; reserve for further use.
  2. Bring 2/3 cup water and vinegar to boil in small nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar to dissolve; reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
  3. Meanwhile, mix cucumbers, onions, and jalapeños in medium bowl. Pour dressing over cucumber mixture; toss to coat. Serve chilled.
Sweet-and-Tart Cucumber Salad

Sweet-and-Tart Cucumber Salad

Headshot of America's Test Kitchen
By America's Test Kitchen
Save

Time

35 minutes, plus 1 hour draining and 20 minutes cooling

Yield

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

½ cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
3 medium cucumbers, sliced, salted, and drained (see directions)
½ medium red onion, sliced very thin
2 small jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced (or more, to taste)

Ingredients

½ cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
3 medium cucumbers, sliced, salted, and drained (see directions)
½ medium red onion, sliced very thin
2 small jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced (or more, to taste)

Ingredients

½ cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
3 medium cucumbers, sliced, salted, and drained (see directions)
½ medium red onion, sliced very thin
2 small jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced (or more, to taste)

Why This Recipe Works

For a cucumber salad recipe with good crunch, we found that weighting salted cucumbers forced more water from them than salting alone. After many tests, we determined that one to three hours worked best for our cucumber salad recipe: Even at 12 hours, the cucumbers gave up no more water than they had after three hours.

Before You Begin

Based on a common Thai relish served with saute, this salad is also great with grilled salmon or grilled chicken breasts.

Instructions

  1. To prepare the cucumbers: Peel, halve lengthwise, and scoop seeds from cucumbers. Stack halves flat side down; slice diagonally 1/4-inch thick. Toss with 1 tablespoon salt in strainer or colander set over bowl; weight with water-filled, one-gallon-sized zipper-lock freezer bag, sealed tight. Drain for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 hours. Transfer to medium bowl; reserve for further use.
  2. Bring 2/3 cup water and vinegar to boil in small nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar to dissolve; reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
  3. Meanwhile, mix cucumbers, onions, and jalapeños in medium bowl. Pour dressing over cucumber mixture; toss to coat. Serve chilled.

Gift This Recipe

Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.

This is a members' feature.