Asian Cucumber Salad with Miso Dressing

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Servings: 4

Author: Lisa Lin

This simple Asian cucumber salad with miso dressing features crisp cucumbers tossed with a zingy miso dressing. I also like sprinkling generous amounts of furikake over the tossed cucumbers for additional flavor. See notes for more info about furikake. You may have leftover dressing, which will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Prep Time15

Ingredients

3 to 4 tablespoons white miso, (see note 1)
2 to 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, can sub with rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup, can sub with honey
1 tablespoon toasted (or roasted) sesame oil
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, grated
2 English cucumbers, (see note 2)
furikake for topping, (see note 3)

Instructions

Make the Dressing (Immersion Blender Method)

Add 3 tablespoons of miso, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, maple syrup, sesame oil, olive oil, and garlic to a wide-mouth jar. Use an immersion blender to blend all the ingredients together. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning to suit your taste, adding more miso if the dressing isn’t flavorful enough. I like a very tangy dressing for this recipe, as cucumbers don’t have too much flavor. So I typically use 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Let the dressing sit while you prepare the cucumbers.
Making Dressing Without an Immersion Blender
In a bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons of miso and 1 1/2 tablespoons of hot water (I usually boil water in my electric kettle). The hot water will help loosen up the miso into a softer paste so it blends with the other ingredients more easily. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar, maple syrup, sesame oil, olive oil, and garlic. Whisk everything together again. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings to suit your taste, adding more miso or vinegar, if needed.

Cut Cucumbers

Slice the ends of the cucumbers and then slice in half. If you are using the spiralizer to make ribbons, slide the flat ribbon blade into the machine. Dock the spiralizer on your counter. Attach one end of the cucumber to the prongs (where the handle is) and attach the other end to the small metal ring sticking out of the ribbon blade.
Turn the hand crank to start cutting the cucumber with one hand. As you turn the crank, push the side handle with your other hand to guide the cucumber towards the blade. Keep doing this until you reach the end of the cucumber. Remove the core and repeat with the remaining cucumber halves.
The cucumber ribbons are usually very, very long after they’re spiralized. I like to rip them into 8 to 10 inch sections so they’re easier to eat. You don’t need to pull out a ruler for this–just eyeball it.
If you don’t have a spiralizer, use a vegetable peeler or a mandoline slicer to make cucumber ribbons. You can also just slice the cucumbers thinly.

Finish Salad

Transfer the cucumber ribbons to a large bowl. Add several large spoonfuls of the miso dressing and gently toss with the cucumbers. Sprinkle a generous amount of furikake over the salad for more flavor.
Serve the cucumber salad with the remaining dressing on the side. You may want to spoon more dressing onto the cucumbers for more tangy flavor.

Notes

White miso is also known as shiro miso. I used 2 brands of white miso when testing this recipe (Miso Master and Miko Brand). Miso Master was more mild and sweeter, so I used 4 tablespoons for the dressing. Miko Brand was much saltier, and 3 tablespoons of miso was enough. There’s so many other brands of miso out on the market with varying levels of sodium. Start with 3 tablespoons of the miso when making the dressing, taste, and adjust the seasonings to suit your taste.
English Cucumbers: I like using these larger cucumbers that are usually shrink-wrapped in plastic because they’re straight and easy to cut with a spiralizer. Japanese cucumbers or Persian cucumbers will work, too.
Furikake is a Japanese seasoning that people sprinkle over rice to add flavor. There are many varieties of furikake, some of which contain any combination of umami ingredients, such as seaweed, sesame seeds, kelp, fried onions, and/or bonito (fish) flakes. For this salad, I’ve used 2 types of furikake. One is from Kyoto, which has chili flakes, sesame seeds, and fried scallions. The other had seaweed and bonito. If you don’t have furikake, try adding toasted sesame seeds and/or fried onions.

Nutrition

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