This impressive Vietnamese Cucumber Salad is so flavorful: lime juice, mint, rice wine vingar, scallions, peanuts, and more. Plus, it has adjustable heat, varying accodring to the way you use the jalapeño. Shrimp optional.
Vietnamese Cucumber Salad
Course: SaladsCuisine: Vietnamese4-6
servings20
minutes25
minutesIngredients
2 lbs. cucumbers (4 nice-sized cukes)
1 large jalapeño, seeds and veins removed, thinly sliced (seeds reserved)
3 scallions, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, pounded with a pinch of salt
½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
16 large mint leaves, coarsely chopped
½ cup dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped, lightly toasted, and cooled
½ lb. cold, peeled and deveined tail-on shrimp, tails removed (optional)
¼ cup neutral-flavored oil
4-5 Tbs lime juice (from 2 limes)
4 tsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
Pinch of salt
Directions
- Stripey-peel the cucumbers and discard the ends. Thinly slice them into coins. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Slice off and discard the jalapeño’s stem and slice the pepper in half along its length. Use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds and stems. Set aside to reserive. Slice the jalapenño’s flesh thinly along the width.
- Add the scallions, garlic, cilantro mint, peanuts, (and shrimp) to the bowl. Toss thoroughly with clean hands, using your fingers to gently push the cucumber coins apart.
- To a 1-cup, tightly-sealable container, add the oil, 4 Tbs lime juice, the vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, and a small pinch of salt. Seal and shake like mad to make a vinaigrette. Dip a cucumber slice into the dressing to taste-test it, and adjust as needed.
- Dress the salad with the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, (reserved seeds and ribs), and more lime juice as needed. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Substitute apple cider or white wine vinegar for the rice vinegar
Refreshing and delicious! Doesn’t need the optional shrimp, but the shrimp makes it more of a four-servings main than a six-servings side if that’s what you’re looking for.
Social Learning
Leftovers / Meal Prep…
If you know in advance that you’ll have leftovers, store the dressing separately and add 2 tablespoons of dressing per serving, just before serving. This will help maintain the cucumbers’ texture.
I like to meal-prep this salad and take servings to work for lunch. So, I do keep the cucumber mixture and the dressing separately. (I have 1½-oz. stainless steel condiment containers with leakproof silicone lids that I use for this purpose.) At serving time, I shake the dressing, pour it into the salad, re-seal the salad container, and shake that.
At-work warning: this salad will leave you with a bit of garlic breath.
Tips and Tricks for Keeping Things Fresh…
Here’s a trick I learned ages ago: if you are storing the undressed salad, place a folded-up paper towel in the bottom of the bowl. It will absorb any liquid that seeps from the veg, which will keep the veg from sogging. I use this whenever I store greens.
By the way, here’s another trick I stumbled onto on my own: after you’ve washed any greens – lettuce, parsley, herbs – shake off the water, wrap them fully but loosely in a length of paper towel, and place the wrapped greens back into the plastic bag that you put them in when you bought them. Then place that in your fridge’s veg compartment. The paper towels will absorb the excess liquid, but the plastic bag will keep the paper towels from drying out, and you’ll wind up with a nice, cool, moist environment for your greens. They’ll last an impressive amount of time – much longer than you would even guess!
The Backstory
This recipe comes from “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” (see references at bottom of post). I’ve changed only a few things to suit my preferences: for instance, I’ve instructed you to shake the dressing together instead of whisking it, and I’ve called for everyday cucumbers because I don’t know where to get the exotic types Nosrat calls for.
Vietnamese Cucumber Salad
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. References: “Vietnamese Cucumber Salad,” in Sat, Fat, Acid, Heat, by Samin Nosrat: Simon & Schuster (New York) 2017, p. 226. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #13 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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