Nov 18, 2012
This salad blows my mind. I do like to salt the cucumbers for about an hour beforehand - pour a bunch of salt on your pile of sliced cukes sitting in a colander over a bowl or sink. (Like...a bunch of salt. You're rinsing it off anyway, so don't be shy.) Let them chill out for an hour, then rinse all that salt off and dry with a paper towel before moving on. Keeps things from getting watery once it sits for a bit. And you don't want to water down that dressing - really, I could just make that and skip the cukes, and eat it with a spoon instead. Anyway, I don't always have tamarind around, so will substitute lime juice in a pinch. (Although tamarind is delicious - it's what gives Worcestershire sauce that little extra sumpin' sumpin'.) Scallions don't hurt either, but you can survive without them. The sesame oil is non-negotiable though - it doesn't seem like much, but trust me, you want it in there.
—Kelly H
