Sunomono (Japanese Cucumber Salad) with Lump Crab & Toasted Sesame Seeds
We recently learned about Japanese cucumbers as well as I introduced the monthly series of #ACAinJapan where we’ll be learning all about Japanese food, cooking tools, culinary techniques, and culture. I’m excited because today I’m sharing with you the first recipe in the series which is Sunomono with Lump Crab and Toasted Sesame Seeds!
When I go to Japanese restaurants, sometimes sunomono is served with the main course and it’s one of my favorite parts of the meal! Sunomono is a Japanese cucumber salad and it’s such a refreshing side dish, especially in the hot and humid summer months. The word “sunomono” means “vinegared or pickled dish” in Nihongo and most times it includes cucumbers as the main ingredient due to their cooling effect and crisp texture.
Sunomono is very versatile due to the wide variety of ingredients that can be added to it such as thinly sliced boiled octopus, seaweed (especially wakame seaweed), noodles, daikon radish and so much more. This is a dish where you can be creative and make something spectacular!
When making this dish, it’s important to use Japanese cucumbers because of their crisp texture, slightly sweet flavor, and the fact that they are seedless. A good substitute would be the Persian cucumber first or the English Hothouse cucumber second.
It’s important to thinly slice the cucumbers and add salt to release the water. You want to let them sit for about 10 minutes and then using a large paper towel, add in a handful of the cucumbers, and firmly squeeze to release the liquid.
The vinegar sauce is most times composed of rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar. For today’s recipe, I included mirin (sweet rice wine) and a small amount of sesame oil to elevate the flavors of the dish. The mirin adds a bit more sweetness to the dish and the sesame oil provides a wonderful depth of flavor while adding an earthy aroma that will make your olfactory senses swoon! I also added Korean gochugaru red pepper flakes because they bring in a small amount of heat with their sweet and smokey flavor as well as they help to ground the dish.
This recipe also includes sumptuous lump crab meat and freshly toasted sesame seeds. When you toast sesame seeds, you place them in a dry pan that is already hot and allow the seeds to cook for about 1-2 minutes. It’s important to shake the pan around a few times to make sure the seeds don’t burn. Once you see/hear them popping, turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner because they are ready!
At this point, gently mix all of the ingredients together and serve alongside your favorite Japanese meal!
I hope you enjoy this week’s recipe, which is the first Japanese inspired recipe of the blog and the #ACAinJapan series, hooray! If you decide to make this delicious Sunomono with Lump Crab and Toasted Sesame Seeds recipe, please share on social media with the hashtag #ACAinJapan and tag me @acertainaesthetic. Take care of yourself, love each other, and eat well!
-Shari :)
Sunomono with Lump Crab & Toasted Sesame Seeds
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 Japanese cucumbers, thinly sliced, ⅛ width, about 2 heaping cups
3 tbsp rice vinegar, 4.2% acidity
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp sesame oil
¼ tsp gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes
¼ cup lump crab meat
Directions
Thinly slice the cucumbers with a mandoline or sharp knife to a ⅛ in width.
Add sliced cucumbers and salt to a medium bowl and mix well.
Set the bowl aside for 10 mins to allow the water to release from the cucumbers
In the meantime, make the vinegar sauce by adding the vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil, and granulated sugar to a medium bowl and mix well with a whisk or spoon until the sugar dissolves completely.
Using a small to medium frying pan, turn on the burner and allow the pan heat up a few minutes on medium-high heat.
Add the sesame seeds to the dry pan and allow them to cook for about 1-2 minutes or until they begin to pop and release a little bit of smoke. Be sure to shake the pan around occasionally.
Once the sesame seeds are ready, turn off the burner, take the pan off the heat and set aside.
Using a large paper towel, add in a large handful of the cucumbers,
With both hands firmly squeeze to release the liquid, and place the squeezed cucumbers into the bowl with the vinegar sauce. Repeat until you are finished.
To this same bowl, add in the crab meat, gochugaru red pepper flakes and toasted sesame seeds.
Stir gently to mix to prevent the crab meat from breaking up too much.
Serve with alongside favorite Japanese meal or eat it as a refreshing snack and enjoy!
Notes
Very important! Be sure to use solely “rice vinegar” and not “seasoned rice vinegar” because the seasoned version already has salt and sugar in the bottle. This will throw off the flavor of the recipe significantly.
If you don’t have Japanese cucumbers, a good substitute would be Persian cucumbers first or the English Hothouse cucumbers second. As long as you have 2 heaping cups, you will be just fine.
If you don’t have gochugaru red pepper flakes, you can substitute with a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes that you crush again with your fingers and sprinkle into the dish. Be sure to wash your hands so you don’t burn your eyes and mouth by accident ;)
Recipe, Photography & Styling by A Certain Aesthetic
