The point is to draw the water out of the cucumber so that it becomes crunchy, doesn't go limp in ten minutes, and generally makes for a better salad.
So what I did, according to the research I did on the Web, was to first clean and slice the cucumber (I use English cucumbers because they have far fewer seeds than regular) very thin, with a Japanese mandoline, then salt them in a bowl with about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon or regular salt, then put them in a colander above another bowl, and weight them down with a bowl of water (you can use a Ziploc bag -- I just didn't have any).
You wouldn't believe it -- a drop of water comes out of them practically every two seconds. I watched. I counted.
You leave them for an hour or so, then rinse them very briefly and they'll hold up for hours or even days without becoming limp and slimy.
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| Hard to see, but I have a plastic bowl full of water pressing down on the cucumbers, which are dripping water at a rate of about two drops every four seconds |
I only think of salting cucumbers for pickles. This is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it stops the cucumbers from getting slimy. But beware! The other day I overdid it on the salt and once there, there's no amount of washing that will take it out. I suggest 1/2 teaspoon for every 20 slices of cucumber (thin).
ReplyDeleteIf you want a real treat make a cucumber salad with finely sliced cucumber (salted), very finely julienned carrots, sesame oil, and sambal oelek or chili-garlic sauce. Yum!