Japanese Restaurant Cucumber Salad

Simple and easy to make, with a sweet and spicy dressing that adds a refreshing bite. This recipe comes from a lovely, now-elderly Japanese woman friend who was a second-generation immigrant and patiently endured internment during WWII as a young girl. The cucumber salad is similar to sunomo in Japanese restaurants, but a bit more assertive. The ingredients are available in the Asian or ethnic foods sections of most metropolitan grocery stores. If you’re diabetic, use sugar substitute instead of sugar with the same results. Original recipe called for 1 teaspoon MSG also.

Step: 1

Whisk sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, chile paste, and salt together in a bowl. Add cucumbers and stir to coat. Allow salad to marinate for 30 minutes before serving at room temperature.

Per Serving: 55 calories; protein 0.8g; carbohydrates 10.5g; fat 1.6g; sodium 13.6mg.