Tossed with wakame seaweed and imitation crab meat, this sweet and tangy Japanese Cucumber Salad goes well with any Japanese-style meal. Make this refreshing side dish for your next potluck or dinner party. It will be a big hit!
A typical Japanese meal consists of one main dish of meat or seafood with rice and miso soup, complemented by several side dishes.
Today’s recipe is a sweet and tangy Japanese Cucumber Salad with Crab (きゅうりとワカメと蟹の酢の物) that goes well with any dinner meal. This easy salad happens to be one of the side dishes that I prepare regularly.
A Classic Japanese Cucumber Salad for Your Everyday Meal
In Japan, this type of side dish or salad is called Sunomono (酢の物), which translated to “vinegar food”. Growing up, my mom made sure we have different kinds of side dishes including a sunomono dish during mealtime. The Japanese believe vinegar is an important part of our diet due to its many benefits such as controlling blood sugar levels. You can find out more information on vinegar here.
The most typical sunomono includes thinly sliced cucumber and wakame seaweed dressed in rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar. We tend to overlook the health benefits of cucumbers, but they are actually high in fiber and great for digestion. That is why you can often find cucumber being served as salads in Japanese meals.
To yield a better texture for the salad, sprinkle the cucumber with a little salt, and rub it gently to pull out some of the water so they stay crisp. The crunch of the cucumber matches well with the soft wakame seaweed in a delicious tangy vinegar dressing. For today’s recipe, I also added imitation crabmeat for some pop of color, but it’s completely optional. You can still enjoy it as a vegetarian dish without the crab sticks.
Serve this Japanese Cucumber Salad as a refreshing accompaniment to chicken teriyaki, garlic saikoro steak, honey pork belly, or miso cod.
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Japanese Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 Japanese or Persian cucumbers (or use ⅔ English cucumber)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp dried wakame seaweed
- 4 real or imitation crabmeat (skip for vegan/vegetarian; I used imitation crabmeat since I‘m allergic to crab)
- toasted white sesame seeds (optional)
For the Dressing
- 3 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- ½ Tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
Instructions
- If you are using Japanese cucumber, this step called itazuri is necessary. Wash 2 Japanese or Persian cucumbers and sprinkle them with Diamond Crystal kosher salt. With both hands, rub the cucumber against the cutting board. It removes the pointy bumps on the cucumber and helps absorb the dressing.
- Alternate peeling ½-inch (1.3-cm) strips of skin lengthwise and leaving strips of skin intact. With this striped pattern, the cucumber slices have some decorative dark green accents and a little bit of extra crunchiness. Cut the cucumbers into thin slices, about ⅛-inch (3 mm) thickness (or even thinner).
- Sprinkle with Diamond Crystal kosher salt and rub the cucumber slices gently with your hands. Let it rest for 5 minutes or so until they are wilted. Then, quickly rinse the cucumber slices under cold water. Squeeze the cucumber to get rid of the water.
- Put 1 Tbsp dried wakame seaweed in a small bowl and soak in water for 10 minutes to rehydrate. Squeeze dry to get rid of the water.
- Cut 4 real or imitation crabmeat sticks in half and shred it with your hands.
- In a small saucepan, combine the dressing ingredients: 3 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned), 1 Tbsp sugar, ½ Tbsp soy sauce, ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and 2 Tbsp dashi (Japanese soup stock). Mix well. Then, heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the cucumber, wakame, and shredded crab sticks. Pour the dressing on top and mix together. Sprinkle toasted white sesame seeds and enjoy the salad at room temperature or chilled.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for a day. However, the crispness of the cucumbers will be lost and the seasoning may become diluted due to moisture released from the cucumber.
I’ve tried everywhere to buy Hashimoto’s Tohoku Recipes book, and even on the website you provided, no luck. I’ve followed you for years and always read my emails from you, beginning to end. If there’s another way to purchase this book, please contact me. Thank you!
Hi Marie! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and her newsletter!
We had searched for the book, but unfortunately, the book is currently sold out. You might want to check out the use book store.
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Fabulous and easy to follow recipe, I have made this multiple times now with no substitutions and it comes out so perfect and delicious! Thank you!
Hi Bonnie! We are so happy to hear this was so perfect and delicious recipe!! 😍
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback! Happy Cooking!
Hi Nami, I am wondering if you can provide me the ratios for the old dressing with Kewpie mayo and Ponzu sauce. I’ve tried this one but we definitely prefer the old version. Could you point me to the old page please? TIA Georgina
Hi Georgina, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
This cucumber salad recipe is a Classic Japanese Cucumber Salad and not using mayo.
It sounds like the one you mentioned is Japanese Kani Salad, and the recipe is here.🙂 : https://www.justonecookbook.com/crab-salad-with-ponzu-mayonnaise-dressing/
We hope this is it!