I used to go to a Thai place occasionally for lunch before my work office recently moved, and in their salad bar they had a delicious dressing or whatever in their salad bar. It was primarily chopped cucumber, and I’m not sure what liquid. It wasn’t oil or vinegar, perhaps it was sweet.
Anybody know what I’m talking about and/or what it is called and where to find it? There are several Asian markets near me, I might be able to get it there if I know what I’m looking for.
I’ll be surprised if it wasn’t vinegar, but not just vinegar.
Good point, if there was a lot of other stuff I could have missed or not remember the vinegar.
The more I think about it, the more I think it was vinegar. But other stuff too.
Rice wine vinegar is pretty sweet, pretty mild as far as vinegars go, and has a nice flavor. Maybe they used that?
Lots of recipes were found when I googled “thai cucumber sauce”.
Here’s one: http://thai.food.com/recipe/cucumber-vinegar-sauce-34164
Mainly cucumber, vinegar, and sugar.
Could it have contained fish sauce? This is a very common ingredient in Thai food.
Here is a recipe for chile-lime fish sauce. The cucumber relish might have used some variant of this.
Might be this with cucumbers added
Nuoc Mam (watered down fish sauce for dipping) **A must try
1/4 cup Squid brand fish sauce
1/6 vinegar
3/4-1 cup water
2/5 cup sugar
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 or 2 chopped red chill pepper
optional: shredded raw or pickled carrots
Mix all ingredients in large bowl and serve. Can be used as dipping sauce for deep fried spring rolls or fresh spring rolls, drizzled over vermicelli w/ bbq meat or even rice dish w/ bbq meat.
Must use Squid brand fish sauce and not Three Crab? brand. It’s a third of the cost and tastes way better (imo). You can substitute fresh lemon juice for vinegar,
That could be similar, I do not recall any chili paste or cilantro though. And I’d remember cilantro, I can’t stand the stuff. But I bet what I had was this recipe without those things. Thanks!
No, no fish, but thanks.
No fish, but thanks.
It’s sweet and sour vinegar.
I really like this recipe, it’s very easy
http://amazingribs.com/recipes/slaws_salads_and_other_vegetables/thai_cucumber_salad.htm
I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but fish sauce is one of the most common seasonings in Thai food. Anything that has any salty flavor at all is likely to have fish sauce in it, including your cucumber relish. It’s more common in Thai cooking than soy sauce is in Chinese cooking. Used judiciously, it won’t make the food taste like fish. In addition to being salty, fish sauce has a pronounced umami flavor.
No, it was much more finely chopped. But thanks!
Thanks, but it looks like they changed the location of the recipe after you posted the link and it no longer works.
Yes, I’ve even used it a bit myself. But I do not recall the dish in question being salty to any memorable extent.