Cucumbers
Sesame Lemon Cucumber Salad
(From The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook)
Serves 4
Mild rice vinegar works well in this Asian-inspired dressing.
3 medium cucumbers (about 2 pounds), peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced ¼ inch thick.
1 tablespoon table salt
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1. Toss the cucumbers with the salt in a colander set over a large bowl. Weight the cucumbers with a gallon-sized zipper-lock bag filled with water; drain for 1 to 3 hours Rinse and pat dry.
2. Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add the cucumbers; toss to coat. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Why this recipe works: More often than not, by the time you eat a cucumber salad, the cucumbers have gone soft and watery, having lost their crunchy texture and release enough liquid to dilute the dressing and turn it flavorless. This phenomenon made the primary goal of our cucumber salad easy to identify: Maximize the crunch.
Because water makes cucumbers lose their texture, we had to salt and weight the seeded and sliced cucumbers to draw off excess moisture. For extra insurance, we also rinsed them and patted them dry. Then we tossed the cucumbers with a rice vinegar, lemon juice and sesame oil vinaigrette, a floral combination that stood up to the superior crunch of our cucumbers. Toasted sesame seeds added even more textural interest.
Mild rice vinegar works well in this Asian-inspired dressing.
3 medium cucumbers (about 2 pounds), peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced ¼ inch thick.
1 tablespoon table salt
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1. Toss the cucumbers with the salt in a colander set over a large bowl. Weight the cucumbers with a gallon-sized zipper-lock bag filled with water; drain for 1 to 3 hours Rinse and pat dry.
2. Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add the cucumbers; toss to coat. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Why this recipe works: More often than not, by the time you eat a cucumber salad, the cucumbers have gone soft and watery, having lost their crunchy texture and release enough liquid to dilute the dressing and turn it flavorless. This phenomenon made the primary goal of our cucumber salad easy to identify: Maximize the crunch.
Because water makes cucumbers lose their texture, we had to salt and weight the seeded and sliced cucumbers to draw off excess moisture. For extra insurance, we also rinsed them and patted them dry. Then we tossed the cucumbers with a rice vinegar, lemon juice and sesame oil vinaigrette, a floral combination that stood up to the superior crunch of our cucumbers. Toasted sesame seeds added even more textural interest.