Sunomono (Cucumber Salad) is a perfect small side dish. It’s easy to make, healthy to eat, and very refreshing to accompany any main dish. It’s tangy but sweet, who wouldn’t like it?
Japanese cucumbers are much skinnier than American ones. They have much less seeds (or at least much smaller seeds) and thinner skin. You might be able to find Japanese cucumbers at some markets in the US. However, if they are not available, you can use English or Persian cucumbers as substitutes. Especially Persian cucumbers are very similar to Japanese ones. Persian cucumbers are a bit shorter, but it doesn’t matter. Just use one more.
We often put seaweed (Wakame) in this salad. If you like seaweed, go for adding it. Otherwise, enjoy as it is.
Sunomono (Cucumber Salad)
Cucumber salad with rice vinegar dressing
Ingredients
- 3 Japanese cucumbers (or 4 Persian)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Slice cucumbers as thin as you can. Stir in salt, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Squeeze water out from cucumbers.
- In a small bowl, mix rice vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce together until sugar dissolves.
- Add vinegar mixture and sesame seeds to prepared cucumbers and mix well.
Video
23 Comments
Thanks for a great simple side dish recipe! If I add Wakame to the Sunomono, do I use it after just soaking it or do I need to boil it as well before adding it to the salad? Thank you!
Kiley,
you don’t need to boil wakame, just soak it in water and squeeze out water before using.
This is really tasty. A very symbols techie that easy easy to make, though I ended up shaking the cucumbers for close to 10 minutes (I have a 6 month old baby… had to walk away from dinner for a few minutes, lol). It tasted very similar to the sunomono at our fav sushi restaurant. Thanks for this recipe!
Poppy,
glad you liked our Sunomono recipe! Come back for more recipes!
This is my favorite salad. How long will it last refrigerated? I sometime times eat alone and would not eat all of the in one sitting.
Thank you
Coreen,
glad you liked our Sunomono salad. You should be able to keep it in the fridge for a couple of days.
This looks delicious and so fresh! How long would something like this keep?
Tom,
it should be fine for 2-3 days.
Noriko,
Thank you!!!
Jackie,
you’re welcome!
Thank you for this recipe! My husband made it tonight for the first time and it came out great!!! My 4 year old loved it, too! Delicious!
Sharon,
thanks for making our Sunomono! Come back for other recipes!
Will this dish change at all if I let it sit in the fridge for a few hours??
Darrian,
You can make ahead.
Hi there,
How long will this last, my mom gave me a bunch of cucumbers and I would like to make a batch of this salad 🙂
Thank you!
Courtney,
a couple of days.
Hi, looks like a great recipe. Does it matter whether I use light or dark soya sauce? Thanks!
Helen,
use either one!
Thank you for this recipe! I used American cucumbers because I didn’t find the Japanese ones or any of the substitutes and it worked just fine, I just made an effort to cut it really, really thin. I’m usually not a big fan of salads but I absolutely loved this!
It’s possible to use Stevia instead of Sugar ?
Fillipe,
it should be fine, but may not be the same amount as sugar. Add small amount of stevia first and taste.
Dear Noriko,
Thank you for this delicious recipe. It’s a great way to use Persian cucumbers quickly.
Love sunomono especially with octopus which I will not attempt, but shrimp would be nice and ginger what are you’re thoughts.