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    Home » Recipes » Japanese (Traditional)

    Updated: Jun 4, 2023 by Marc · Leave a Comment

    Sunomono (Japanese Cucumber Salad)

    Sunomono (酢の物) literally means "vinegared thing" and refers to a Japanese cucumber salad, which is dressed with a sweet vinegar dressing. It's very easy to make from just a handful of common ingredients and makes for a nice contrast to other dishes in a meal with its crunchy texture and sweet and sour taste.
    Recipe Video Pin
    With crunchy cucumber and an oil-free sweet and sour dressing, sunomono is a quick Japanese salad made from just a handful of ingredients.
    What is Sunomono?

    Sunomono (酢の物), which literally means "vinegared dish" is a Japanese cucumber salad that typically includes cucumber and wakame marinated in a tangy, sweet and savory dressing.

    What is sunomono served with?

    Sunomono is a traditional side dish that's usually served in a small kobachi bowl to accompany a traditional meal of rice, miso soup, and grilled fish. Other traditional Japanese sides include hijiki, kinpira, and goma-ae.

    What's in the dressing for Japanese Cucumber Salad?

    The sauce is a simple oil-free dressing made with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Sunomono is an easy Japanese side dish made from cucumbers, seaweed and an oil-free sweet and sour vinaigrette.

    What ingredients do I need to make Japanese Cucumber Salad?

    Aside from the dressing, the only other required ingredient is cucumber. I like using Japanese cucumbers for their texture, vibrant color, and lack of seeds. If you can't find Japanese cucumbers, other thin-skinned cucumbers such as Lebanese or Persian ones are suitable substitutes. If you can't find those either, Hothouse (a.k.a. English) cucumbers will work in a pinch, but you'll want to cut it in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds before slicing it.
    Beyond cucumber, most people also include wakame, which is a type seaweed. It usually comes dried or salted and needs to be rinsed and rehydrated in cold water for a few minutes before being used. Once rehydrated wakame should look like thin frilly sheets of dark green paper.
    To give the salad a bit more substance, I like to add some cooked seafood such as shrimp, crab, or octopus. You can also get a little creative here and add other proteins such as shredded chicken breast or edamame.

    How do you make Sunomono?

    The key to getting the proper texture in the cucumbers is to slice them thinly and salt them. Through osmosis, the salt removes excess water from the cucumbers, preventing the salad from getting watery. It also changes the texture of the cukes, giving them a sonorous crunch with every bite.

    Once the cucumbers have been salted and squeezed, it's just a matter of tossing them together with the other ingredients and dressing.

    Other Side Dish Recipes

    • Seaweed Salad
    • Chawanmushi (Steamed Savory Custard)
    • Spicy Edamame
    • Kinpira Gobo (Stir-fried Burdock Root)
    • Hiyayakko (Chilled Silken Tofu)

    📖 Recipe

    Sunomono is an easy Japanese side salad that comes together in minutes from a handful of ingredients.

    Sunomono (Japanese Cucumber Salad)

    4.72 from 7 votes
    Print Pin Discuss
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Total Time 15 minutes mins
    Yield 4 small servings

    Units

    Ingredients 

    • 260 grams Japanese Cucumbers (~2 cucumbers)
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 45 grams wakame
    • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon evaporated cane sugar
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • 4 pieces crab meat (or shrimp or octopus for garnish)
    • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

    Instructions

    • Slice the cucumbers as thinly as possible and then add the ¼ teaspoon of salt. Toss to coat evenly and then let the cucumbers rest for 5-10 minutes.
      To make sunomono, salt the cucumbers to improve their texture and taste.
    • Rehydrate the wakame according to the package directions and chop into bite-size pieces.
      Rehydrated wakame seaweed for sunomono.
    • Once the cucumbers start sweating liquid, you can massage them with you hand to speed up the process. When the cucumbers become translucent they are ready to be squeezed.
      The salt makes the cucumbers release water, making them crunchy instead of crisp.
    • Grab the cucumbers with your hands and squeeze as much water from them as you can.
    • In a non-reactive bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, sugar and salt until the solids are dissolved.
      Make the vinaigrette for sunomono with rice vinegar, sugar and salt.
    • Add the squeezed cucumber, and wakame to the vinegar mixture and toss everything together to coat.
      Stir the sunomono together before serving.
    • Serve the sunomono in small kobachi bowls, and garnish with cooked shrimp, crab, or octopus and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
      Placing shrimp on top of Sunomono (Japanese Cucumber Salad)
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    Nutrition

    Calories 27kcalCarbohydrates 6gSodium 535mgPotassium 95mgSugar 4gVitamin A 110IUVitamin C 2.1mgCalcium 27mgIron 0.4mg

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    Hi, I'm Marc Matsumoto, a retired chef living in Tokyo, and I founded No Recipes to empower home cooks of all levels by sharing essential techniques and my kitchen secrets.

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