A very popular Chinese restaurant located near our place of residence serves hors d’oeuvres comprising of pickled cucumber & carrots along with kimchi that are on-the-house. My husband enjoys their pickled cucumbers and carrots. On our recent visit to the place, he asked me if I could make it at home. From the sweet and sour flavours I knew that they could be easily replicated at home.
I had some left over canned pineapple from the upside-down pineapple cake I had recently made and I thought of adding them too. (I would prefer using fresh pineapple since they will be a healthier option and also add a burst of bright yellow colour to the salad) I omitted the carrots and decided to make an Asian style cucumber salad instead. I added mint and cilantro for extra flavours…and I am so pleased to say this, my hubby loved it more than the restaurant one J
Here is what I needed for this refreshing salad,
2 medium cucumbers
2 canned pineapple rings (squeezed)
1 tsp mint leaves
2 tsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp sugar (adjust to taste) – (palm sugar is a good substitute)
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp soy sauce (adjust to taste)
½ tsp sesame oil
1 pinch red chilli flakes (you can use bird’s eye chilli as a substitute)
2 tsp white vinegar or 1 tsp lemon juice (I suppose rice vinegar would be better but I did not have it in my pantry)
Whisk together the sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and vinegar. Keep aside.
Peel the cucumbers (I peeled them alternately leaving one strip of green and then peeling the next) or keep their skin on and cut vertically in two halves.
Scrap out the seeds using a spoon and cut them horizontally in slices (I didn’t keep the slices thin coz I wanted the salad chunky and crunchy)
Add salt to the chopped cucumber and keep them aside for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Squeeze out the water from the cucumbers.
Chop the pineapple in chunks of desirable size and add to the cucumbers
Throw in the mint leaves, cilantro, chilli flakes and pour the dressing.
Toss the salad and serve immediately.
This salad tasted great with spicy grilled prawns.
Serves 1-2
Linked to Ayeesha’s Any One Can Cook Series-44
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this is a nice twist to cucumber & the usual salad.. will try this..totally inviting 🙂
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Mouthwatering salad! Well done!
I love this salad! Great and really interesting combination!
This salad is such an interesting combination of flavors! Very nice dish! 🙂
wow….lovely salad there dear….awesome
very eager 2 try this.looks just yumm.my hub will enjoy this surely….
Maha
Love the colors and the flavors going into this salad.The combination of sweet and salty works beautifully and bet they were delicious 🙂
Lovely n mint flavored salad!!
Cook in any recipe with “Cilantro /Cumin & Just link in EP Series-Cilantro /Cumin Event
Erivum Puliyum
A different combo, looks awesome..
Very nice salad. The colors are so refreshing and the flavours very interesting.
That is indeed a very refreshing salad! Love the bright green colour…makes it very appetizing. Thanks a lot for linking this to my event and I am glad to have found your blog. Nice space with interesting recipes! Glad to follow you as well 🙂
P.S. Your followers tab doesn’t seem to be working. Will add on later.
Hey Rosh! Thanks for visiting my blog and your kind words. Glad to meet another wonderful blogger 🙂
very refreshing salad indeed….Your hubby is one lucky guy!1
so fresh & bright.. love the flavours
I’m so ashamed when u mentioned asian-inspired salad cause I’ve never eaten them before. Lol! Thanks again for your vote! It’s really great having your support. This is such a refreshing salad, perfect on a hot day!
Gorgeous salad! Looks vibrant and delicious.
What a lovely salad. This sounds delicious. I’m new to your blog, so Itook some time to browse through your earlier posts. I’m so glad Idid that.I really like the food and recipes you share with your readers and I’ll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Nice one.. Thanks Linking 2 Beat The Heat 🙂
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Super salad – Love the flavor combos – I would never have thought of them!!
Mary x
wow…what a gorgeous salad…full of greens ! loved it dear !
Very refreshing salad! love the flavors added to the salad.
very healthy and yummy salad!
I really do like your blend of ingredients in this salad. I love fruit and leafy greens together, but the idea of pairing fruit with cucumber is a tasty idea! This would be great for a picnic. Not to mention is does make me think of springtime-well done!
I love this salad combination,pineapple and cucumber they are good together and cilantro and mint adding great Yummy taste to it !!
Ridwan
oh, yum! this sounds great! i would love it with spicy food – it would provide a nice cooling element to the heat of a spicy meal.
Very refreshing salad! I love everything in it especially the pineapple and cucumber.
It is amazing how you transformed an average salad into something so full of flavours. I regularly follow your delicious recipes.
Love how bright this salad is! So refreshing!
Oh this is indeed beautiful and refreshing! Sweet and crunchy…and I bet it is fabulous with grilled prawns! : )
Thanks for dropping in my space!Happy to follow you.Ur pictures of the foodies are tempting.U have a lovely blog!
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Thanks for visiting and thanks for your appreciation 🙂
Thank you so much everyone for liking this refreshing salad and for your encouraging words 🙂
Yummy n refreshing salad.
Beautiful and refreshing salad. I love the flavors especially the addition of mint. Looks yummy!!!
Love this combination,awesome. Thank you for linking with Any One Can Cook 🙂
Wow… !! yummy 🙂