I love serving a quick pickled cucumber wakame salad as a simple side dish for some grilled fish or fried rice. It’s a quick and easy way to get some veggies on the table for your next dinner.
In Japan, the term sunomono refers to a side salad of vegetables dressed in vinegar. It can any range of vegetables such as cucumber, daikon radish, carrots, etc. I really enjoy the simple combo of wakame seaweed and cucumbers though. Cucumbers are really great at soaking up flavor (think pickles), and seaweed adds great texture and umami flavor.
I typically always have a bag of dried wakame sitting in my pantry. It takes up very little space and with just a few tablespoons of you can have a cucumber wakame salad in no time.
For the salad dressing, I use a traditional mix of rice vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and sake. It’s a pretty unstoppable combo of flavors, and if you let the cucumber slices sit in the dressing for 15-20 minutes they basically become quick pickles.
Cucumber Wakame Salad
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp soy sauce, (Japanese shoyu works well)
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 large cucumber, (sliced very thinly, I like english cucumbers, if you can find small japanese cucumbers uses 3-4)
- 3 tbsp dried wakame seaweed
- furikake or togarashi, (optional, for serving)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the dried wakame seaweed and and a cup or two of warm water. Let the seaweed expand in the water for about 5 minutes then drain and squeeze any excess water out.
- Then, in a large bowl, mix together the rice vinegar, sake, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, salt, toasted sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds.
- Add the wakame seaweed and sliced cucumbers and toss well, set aside for at least 5 minutes but up to an hour.
- With a slotted spoon, scoop the salad into a serving dish and sprinkle some furikake or togarashi on top.
Notes
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