With summer already here, I’ve turned to finding new recipes that are both easy and refreshing to beat the heat. This cucumber salad, although relatively simple, is a refreshing and light snack or side dish to any meal. Although the dish only has cucumbers in it, the sauces and spices elevate the dish and make it a complex burst of flavor with every bite. It resembles the cucumber salad at Din Tai Fung, a Chinese restaurant chain originating in Taiwan. Because this is one of my favorite dishes, I took it upon myself to find an adaptation of it. This dish is best served cold, but other than that, you have plenty of ways to adapt it to your preferences. Check out the ingredients listed here, or add and subtract spices and condiments to suit your taste.
Ingredients
2 large thin-skinned cucumbers
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
