Contrary to popular belief, my diet is not made up solely of fried chicken and banana pudding (but wouldn’t that be great!?!?). Nope. Actually, I love about anything when it comes to food. As my Dad would say, I’ll east just about anything that doesn’t eat me first. But I especially enjoy Asian food. Vietnamese is actually one of my favorites. And that’s where the inspiration for today’s recipe comes from.
The owners of my favorite Vietnamese place retired and closed their restaurant recently, and I’m already missing my pho and vermicelli bowls. This cucumber salad is inspired by those delicious vermicelli bowls that I devoured so often.
Fresh cucumbers combine with matchstick carrots and thinly sliced red onion and are covered in a dressing of soy sauce, garlic, rice wine vinegar, and black pepper. The whole thing is garnished with chopped peanuts. It’s all the great flavors of the classic dish in a low carb, easy to prepare side dish. I’ve actually had this for lunch for two days now!
Garlic Soy Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cups matchstick carrots
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers, onion, and carrots.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, water, and black pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the cucumber mixture and toss to coat. Garnish with peanuts when serving.
Notes
This recipe is best made fresh and served very soon thereafter. Unlike many other cucumber salads, this one doesn't benefit from some time in the fridge.
Making This Recipe?Tag me on Instagram: @SouthernBite using the hashtag #SouthernBite, so I can see how it turned out!
Shery says
What if we added some of those oriental noodles just before serving? I always love any extra crunch in my salads.
Lisa Langston says
This is so pretty! We love salads such as this. I plan on making this in a few days. Thank you!
Stacey says
Hope you’ll enjoy!!
Irene Chavez says
i don’t eat very much asian food, but this looks delicious! what would i serve this with?
Stacey says
I think this would pair well with just about anything, but think it’s especially good with grilled meats.
Charlotte Chesnut says
I love the look of this – what if I made is ahead of time and left out the water in the dressing; would that offset the water that comes out of the cucumber?
Stacey says
You are welcome to try that, I’ve just not done it that way. Let me know how it turns out.
Debra Myer says
Hey Stacey this recipe looks like a keeper. Can’t wait to try it. I looked over the recipe for number of servings three times. Did I miss it? I am keeping to a 1500 calorie diabetic diet so I need to put this in a nutrition calculator and it requires that. Thanks again.
Stacey says
I would imagine you could serve anywhere from 4 to 6 on this one depending on the serving size.
Hanny says
I’ve decided I like zucchini in place of cucumbers because they are less watery and the seeds are less pronounced. I’ve been doing this for the last year. I also like the suggestion of adding noodles to make a crispy salad. Thanks
Stacey says
Great suggestion! I’ll have to try that sometimes.
tiff says
I don’t see the amount of soy sauce in the recipe, can you please tell me how much to use would love to make this, thanks!
Stacey says
It’s 3 tablespoons. Can you see the other quantities in the recipe at the end of the post? Let me know if you need anything else. 🙂
GA says
Can you recommend an alternative seed or nut that would go well with the Asian flavor for those of us who love but are allergic to peanuts?
Stacey says
Cashews should work perfectly!
NeeNee says
I make pasta salads each week for our food pantry volunteers. I use interesting salads and add cooked pasta. Can’t wait to try this one. I will use less water in the dressing, and add some sesame oil. I cut the cucumbers into quarters and chop thicker pieces. For those with peanut allergies I substitute sunflower seeds. You can buy them in the big box store inexpensively.
NeeNee says
It was great! I meant sunflower kernels, not seeds.
Stacey says
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing!