Before I talk about today’s post, for those of you on the east coast of the US, I hope the storm isn’t impacting your life too much and please stay safe.
I also want to say Congratulations to San Francisco Giants, World Series Champions!! Whoo hoo! 
They had an amazing playoff run coming back from the brink of being eliminated twice and sweeping the Detroit Tigers to win it all.
Now on to today’s recipe, Japanese Cucumber Salad. As you might know, the typical Japanese meal consists of one main dish of meat or seafood with rice and miso soup, complemented with several side dishes. This easy salad is one of the side dishes that I prepare often.
In Japan, this type of side dish/salad is called Sunomono (酢の物), literal translation “vinegar food”. The most typical sunomono includes thinly sliced cucumber and wakame seaweed dressed in rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar. The crunch of a crisp cucumber matches really well with the soft wakame seaweed in a delicious tangy vinegar dressing.
For today’s recipe, I added crab sticks to add red color but it’s completely optional and you can enjoy it as a vegetarian dish without the crab sticks. The Japanese believe vinegar is an important part of our diet due to its many benefits such as controlling blood sugar level. You can find out more information on Vinegar here. Growing up my mom made sure we have different kinds of side dishes include sunomono during meal time.
Have a wonderful week everyone!
Ingredients:
- 2 Japanese cucumbers (2/3 English cucumber)
- Sea salt
- 1 Tbsp. wakame
- 4 crab sticks (kanikama) (optional)
- Roasted white sesame seeds (optional)
- 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. dashi stock *
Instructions:
- If you are using Japanese cucumber, this step called “Itazuri” is necessary. Wash the cucumber and sprinkle salt. With both hands, rub the cucumber against the cutting board. It removes the pointy bumps on the cucumber and it helps absorb the dressing.
- Peel the cucumber and slice into thin slices.
- Sprinkle salt and rub the cucumber each other gently with hands. After cucumber is wilted (about 5 minutes), wash the cucumber under cold water. Squeeze the cucumber to get rid of water.
- Put dried wakame in a small bowl and soak in water. After 10 minutes, squeeze dry to get rid of water.
- Cut the crab sticks in half.
- In a small saucepan, combine dressing ingredients and mix well. Heat until sugar is all dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine cucumber, wakame, and crab sticks. Pour the dressing over and mix together. Sprinkle sesame seeds and enjoy at room temperature or chilled.
Notes
* For vegetarian, replace dashi stock with water.
Enjoy!
Hi, I'm Nami. Thanks for stopping by Just One Cookbook. You can read little bit more about me 
{ 105 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks divine Nami!! Cucumber salad is always a favourite in our house, in fact I’m making some to go with dinner tonight!
I love this salad with the crab sticks. I’ve bought them before, but never thought of anything other than a California roll to use them for. And of course, as always, your photos are stunning! I hope you have a great week!
I love a salad like this, I had tried several cucumber based ones but nothing like this. Thanks for sharing
I always enjoyed your post going thru the tutorial photos! I think I should start eating this type of salad if I want to cut down my cholesterol level. Japanese cucumbers are more crunchy in texture than our local ones. These little beautiful bowls must be from your mom.
This looks refreshing.
Thank you Debra!
Nami, my ten-year-old who celebrated her birthday yesterday is the premium cucumber salad eater in our house – she also adores Asian dressings and a sprinkling of sesame seeds on top. So this salad of yours reminds me of the one I often prepare for her (and the rest of the gang) but your version with crab looks much more pleasing to the eye and it does sound delicious, so I will adjust my recipe and try it your way instead!
P.S.: I also wanted to thank you for all your lovely comments and mails – I really love receiving them. And since Thursday is a Holiday around here, I am taking the kids to my favorite Asian market to a “shopping spree” so that I can finally try out more of your wonderful recipes! I am looking forward to that!
What an incredible salad Nami – I would be happy eating this every day of the week.
Mandy
I love this salad! It’s a fab of mine. Makes me wish I had cucumbers in the house. With Sandy on the way maybe I’ll just have to wait!
Yum! good and healthy. I adore cucumber salad, I usually make tzaziki, which is a mainstay over summer. This looks really refreshing, Nami, and great pic too.
I don’t often enjoy cucumber salads but this looks fantastic
Thank you!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
This sounds really nice and appetizing, i love light and tangy side sides. Thanks for this idea, Nami. Cant wait to try
The tip about removing pointy stubs is very helpful! And I love the styling of this recipe. It looks so crisp
I’ll try this recipe, sounds delicious! I have only had Sunomono in restaurants and my son is a huge fan of this dish. I’m glad that now I can make it at home with your recipe. Thanks for sharing, Nami!
Really elaborate/complex recipe, sounds very delicious. I recently tried a simpler version at a friends place. It was made with vinegar, sugar, water and dill. The cucumber takes on a really nice texture and flavour.
What a delicious looking salad. I don’t know why but I don’t cook with cucumber very often. I should use it more xx
Usually, the dressing I would do for cucumber salad is sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce. I can try this for a change next time. Great!
It’s like a pickled salad. YUM!! I recently made cucumber pickles so this looks perfect for me.
As an East Coaster… we are getting pounded by rain right now… I hope it goes away faster than expected. Thanks for the well wishes.
I love this type of picked side dish when we take Japanese meal outside, and usually I will also finish up my children’s portion because they don’t appreciate this, hehehe ..your cucumber sound so appetizing and refreshing!
what a coincidence. i just posted a cucumber salad too
would love to try this version with the ingredients i have. i also liked your bowl.
I like this
oh, i love this salad! My 7 year-old will love it too, as he adores dried seaweed.
Usually I just make the plain Japanese cucumber pickles. Next time, I’ll add wakame since I love those too.
A crunchy side salad sounds like an appealing complement. Interesting note on the health benefits of vinegar, too. Maybe that’s why my Grandma served pickles with every meal!
your cucumber salad sounds so refreshing! we definitely need to try this soon!
The salad looks so tempting Nami!! I have never tried tasting Sea week before. But I would love to give it a try in the future
I would love this as a side. One thing I am funny about sides, I don’t like sweet baked beans, or potato salad (I never liked cold potatoes ever since I was a kid) not big on the seven bean salad or coleslaw, I guess I not your typical American!
I love any kind of cucumber salad, and this one looks particularly nice. The crab sticks are a wonderful idea! Great photos, great salad – thanks.
Another great & easy recipe, Nami! I love cucumber and didn’t realize that dish cucumber salad is so easy to make. I think the only difficult ingredient I may have trouble with is the dashi stock (making it from scratch).
Do you know if they sell dashi packets at 99 Ranch?
Hi Candice! I doubt 99 Ranch has dashi packet… but Chinese supermarket Marina in San Mateo has it and a little cheaper than Japanese supermarket.
If you don’t make miso soup, you can use dashi powder (there are MSG-free dashi powder) for small amount of dashi stock we need for dishes like this.
I usually make miso soup so I scoop up 2 Tbsp. of dashi stock for this dish before putting miso etc.
Hope this helps!
Nice refreshing, sweet and tart salad….sounds awesome!!
I love cucumber salads. This looks great!
Simply delicious! It must taste so refreshing and light. Would love to make this.
I love those bowls.
This looks delicious! I’m always looking for new vegetable side dishes. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t care for cucumber personally but this looks like a very interesting light, cold salad.
And I just finished eating a cucumber with my lunch. The salad looks lovey and perfectly balanced with the vinegar dressing.
What a nice healty salad, Nami!
Crab sticks gross me out–do they exist where they are ACTUALLY crab and not processed and molded anonymous fish meat? I LOVE real crab though, if I could I’d make this with that!
Lol! I used to enjoy real crab too until I became allergic – so sad! There are other alternatives to add red color (tomatoes?) in this dish for those who don’t like crab sticks. Or eat it like traditional cucumber salad with just cucumber and wakame.
Delicious and fresh! That’s my first impression of this post. I never knew that we can use salt and rub against the cutting board. What we normally do is cut the tip and rub against one another to remove the bitterness. Now I can’t stop thinking of having this with salmon.
Thank you for sharing this delightful recipe. Can’t wait to try it… as soon as this monster of a storm is over.
Hi Cheryl! I hope you and your loved ones are okay from the storm. Thank you so much for your kind comment!
A delightful and refined tasting salad! Beautiful.
Cheers,
Rosa
I’ll definitely be adding the crab sticks!
OH wow! I love cucumber salad. I have to make this. Another stunning recipe Nami!
Oh how I miss Japanese cucumbers. They are much more expensive over here so I stick with the English ones. I can’t eat the regular ones since they are so tough. Looks like a simple but yummy recipe. Will definitely give it a try.
Hi Kit – yeah here too it’s pretty pricey. I usually buy English cucumbers because its texture is very similar to Japanese cucumbers. Thanks for your kind comment and hope you will enjoy this recipe!
I saw in today’s news all kind of pictures of the storm/hurricane in the east coast, terrible..!!!
I like your salad, I find cucumber very very fresh, so it goes perfect in salad…or in my eyes
This looks so refreshing and delicious! (And I love the addition of the shredded crab sticks!) Now I want to make this exact salad sometime soon… yum.
I love this type of salad. It so much different from the Greek ones and yet so tasty!
One of the easiest recipe ever. I think it will fit my South beach diet requirement. Will try it soon Nami. I love the way you chop your veggies – so slender and thin.
What a delicious salad! I’ll take this any day whether as a side or even a main dish. You combined the flavors so well. As always, enjoyed the step by step process. I will try this soon as the weather gets better here in the east coast and I can go to the markets. Thanks for the kind wishes & the great recipe, Nami! Happy Mon.
What a clever salad. I love it and want to reach in and take a bite.
Nami this is so gorgeous. I think mini-me would love this one. She’s a cucumber nut. Like big time.
Another lovely fresh looking recipe. This recipe epitomises everything I just love about Japanese cooking – careful, precise preparation, beautiful presentation and lovely flavours
I love cucumbers–my favorite vegetable–and I know I’m going to love this recipe!
This cucumber salad looks fresh and delicious. I love how you sliced it super thin. It looks so delicate. Just love the flavors!
One of my favourite Japanese vinegary dishes, ’cause have always loved cucumber! Appetizing photo too! Don’t exactly know what is meant by ‘Japanese’ cucumber: but it looks very similar to what we call ‘Lebanese’ cuc here?
!
Thank you Eha! Japanese cucumbers are similar to Persian cucumber in size and texture. That’s a great alternative choice too.
I LOVE sunomono, so glad to finally get the authentic recipe! In fact, I’ll make it this week!
Thanks, Nami.
Go San Francisco!
Thank you for teaching me how to make this salad the right way! I make a very simple cucumber salad which is good but I’ve always felt something was missing. Yep – I was right – no dashi, no sesame seeds and no crab which I bet is an excellent addition!!! I love this salad my dear!!!
Finally I made it to your blog. I saw this in my email box and already knew that I will love this recipe. Very delicious pictures as always, Nami! I have in my fridge Japanese cucumbers which are much smaller than the Eng. cucumbers, but you gave us great alternative. Can’t wait to try this! Have a great week!!!!!
we lived in south korea for a while, and they also prepare side dishes to go with their meals. it made for such beautiful food, and such a healthy variety of things available. i haven’t had this salad before, but it reminds me of that sort of thing, and i can’t wait to try it. it’s food that is good for your whole body.
So delicious! I love sunomono! So nice that my kids are starting to like pickled/fermented foods now, slowly. I think it’s good for their health to have some vinegar too.
This cucumber salad looks very interesting specially with crab sticks.. I’ve never had something like this before.. Looks delicious!
We call those Surimi in France, the crab sticks. you get crab, prawns fish, pretty much all types. Unfortunately its so rare in Austria and in India I can forget even of thinking that they might sell it somewhere. Love Love Love those! So addictive in a salad.
I adore this salad! It’s so fresh and crunchy but I like that it has the crab sticks in it too
what a wonderful cucumber salad! I have to try this japanese version: it looks so yummy!
Nami, this looks fantastic. I love a fresh, flavorful salad like this, could probably just eat this for a whole meal. Thanks for all the great tips too, I never heard of that salt trick but it looks like it works great!
I like coming to your blog and be introduced to amazing food. Delicious looking salad
I love cucumbers and Asian cucumber salads to me are just delicious, all kinds, i especially like cucumber kimchi, i love the acidity with cucumber, remind me of my childhood eating Polish cucumber salad. Just fabulous. I love your in action photo’s too
Nami, you are the only one who is able to make humble crab sticks look so marvellous! I love this salad and it reminds me of your cucumber and seaweed salad I have made several times (and posted too). I remember it was delicious, so I will try this enriched version soon, especially since I constantly have crab sticks in the fridge.
this is a really pretty salad ^^ bet it tastes light and refreshing too ^^
I love any salad with rice vinegar ….+ dashi stock? How cool!!
I like the addition of crab sticks.
Thanks for the lesson on Japanese cucumber, too!
LL
Such refreshing and healthy way to eat salad..hearing first time about wakame…
Great salad! It looks crisp and tasty. I love cucumbers but usually just eat them sliced. Thanks for the inspiration!
Cucumbers always remind me of summer. I’d have to swap out the crab, my daughter wouldn’t be able to eat it otherwise. Have a restful evening!
Delicious cucumber salad…I could have this as my whole meal
Thanks for pictures and have a wonderful week as well Nami!
I love cucumber salads because they are so refreshing. This particular one with crab sticks make it very interesting. I wish I had all the ingredients now so I can make it immediately!
I like cucumbers in salad . I have some in the fridge to try this salad tonight, without crab meat.
This looks so refreshing to eat! I love that you added the crab sticks. Why do Japanese side dishes always look so good!
Cucumber salad, be it Chinese or Polish variety is one of the most refreshing things in the world and one of my faves, and now thanks to your recipe I can enjoy a Japanese version as well. I see this in my lunch box in the near future…
I love vinegar
I actually take a shot of vinegar at least a couple of times a week but I can be a bit extreme. So if I used English cucumber would I not have to worry doing the rubbing on the cutting board part?
English cucumbers don’t have the pointy bumps like Japanese cucumbers. It’s pretty pointy that you won’t miss it. There are no bumps on English or Persian cucumber that I know of…
Refreshing side dishes are one of the best elements of a Japanese meal. They add so much fun and colors to communal eating. I love this kind of cucumber salad – easy yet delicious!
I can eat an entire bowl full of cucumber salad. Never seen crab sticks added to it but I like the idea, too.
I put vinegar/lemon in almost everything I eat. I really do believe that there are certain health benefits to the condiments we eat alongside our meals. Plus, it would be so boring not to have all those other options.
OMG OMG OMG Nami
This is my FAVOURITE type of SALAD ~ I order it whenever I go to a Japanese restaurant and I can’t seem to get enough of it! I’m not sure if it’s the crack sticks or the dressing but it’s addictive…but then i realised the one i have usually has a Kewpie dressing is that a different salad? 
You must be so thrilled that your hometown won the world series!
Now about this salad – I love the simplicity of it and it involves one of my favorite things ever – crab sticks! When my mom used to make me california rolls, I would steal all the crab sticks and eat it by itself and she’d get really mad!
I love cucumber salad, this looks wonderful Nami!
Hi Nami,
You know I love Japanese cucumber salad, but I have never tried it with crab sticks. I am seriously going to make it for lunch tomorrow. It sounds so so good. Thanks for sharing:)
What a light and healthy salad! I like the addition of crab sticks, little more filling for a snack or meal. Looks wonderful, Hugs, Terra
This looks wonderful! I love cucumber salad but I have never tried the Japanese version. Adding crab sounds and looks delicious!
I love this cucumber salad and that Dashi stock sounds fantastic!!I love crab sticks but haven’t used them that much!This sounds like a good recipe to try
Lovely looking salad Nami – I love everything which has “mono” in the title. It’s a sure sign of crunchy, fresh, tastiness! I think I’d skip the crab sticks – can’t stand the things – but the salad looks wonderful besides that – so fresh and crisp.
I have to remember to share this with my mom too! She’s always asking me for new salad and dressing ideas, and she loves cucumbers.
What a healthy recipe! I adore cucumber salad so this is great Nami
Bookmarking!
Hello Nami! do you know how long can i keep the cucumber salad in fridge?
Thanks for sharing such a nice recipe!
Thanks for asking! Hmm… I’d eat within 2 days and it’s the best till next day.
Hi, I am the only one in the house that likes food like this, so I have to cook for myself. I see that this makes a lot of servings. Should I refrigerate the dressing from the rest of the ingredients? How long would it last do you think? Thanks!
Hi Steven!
The dressing will last about 3 days, so either you make half of the recipe portion or keep the dressing separate and mix it right before you eat it (so it doesn’t become like pickled dish).
Hope this helps!
This may be a silly question…but how do you get the crab sticks shredded like that?
Hi Erin! I think I know what you are asking about. When I bought some brands (usually non Japanese brands), the crab sticks don’t separate like how Japanese crab sticks do… It just won’t get “shredded” and it becomes more like pieces. If you don’t mind the shape, that’s okay too. But I looove the texture of long thin shredded crab sticks.
Hope you can find Japanese brand – they usually come in smaller packages like one I showed in the recipe, not in a huge bulk. Hope that helps! 
Makes perfect sense…thank you so much! I love the texture of the shreds too so I’ll find a Japanese brand. I’ve tried several of your recipes and I LOVE them all, my girls are obsessed with the Soba Salad
Thanks again!!!!!
Hi Erin! Aww so nice to hear you tried some of my recipes!
So happy to hear your daughters enjoyed the soba salad too. 
Thank you again for writing! xo
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