A spicy Thai cucumber salad with roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro. This salad is my personal interpretation of the famous Thai papaya salad if you can’t buy green papaya where you live and still want to make this delicious salad with cucumber and carrots as a substitute.
Today, I am going to show you another way how to make cucumber salad. This Thai cucumber salad is made with cucumber, carrots, roasted peanuts, and fresh cilantro. Topped with an Asian dressing made of garlic, sambal
I love to travel to Thailand. I love the beautiful beaches there. And of course, I love Thai food. It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t visit a one-day cooking class in Thailand (see pictures on the right). Since then I am a huge admirer of the famous Thai papaya salad. Unfortunately, here in Switzerland, it’s difficult to find green papayas to buy. If you are lucky, you can get one in the Asian store, but there are days where you have to look for an alternative.
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Thai Papaya Salad Alternative
This recipe is my personal interpretation of the green papaya salad if I can’t get those green papayas. It’s made with cucumber and carrots instead. Trust me, the taste is almost the same, and it’s super delicious I mostly never try to catch these papayas nowadays.
How to Make a Spicy Thai Cucumber Salad?
It’s quite easy. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing, roast the peanuts, and chop the cilantro. Next step is making julienne strips out of your vegetables. It’s best to use a julienne peeler for this. If you don’t own one, you can get them for little money in every supermarket. Are you super fancy and like it super spicy? Add some fresh chili pepper rings over the salad.
Do you love Thai food? There
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Thai Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar , alternative: brown sugar, coarse sugar
- 2 tbsp lime juice, ~ 1 lime
- 0.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 0.5 tsp sambal oelek
Salad
- 4 tbsp unsalted peanuts (~40g), chopped & roasted
- 4 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 cucumber
- 2 carrots
Instructions
Dressing
- Mince the garlic using a zester (I use the one from Microplane) or a garlic press. Mix with all other ingredients and set aside.
Salad
- Roughly chop the peanuts and roast them in a pan until golden. Roughly chop the cilantro, and set aside.
- Peel the cucumber and carrot. Cut them into long julienne strips using a julienne peeler. Stop making julienne strips if you reach the seeds of the cucumber, they are too watery to use in the salad.
- Mix the julienne strips with the sauce and top it with the roasted peanuts and cilantro. You can serve the Thai cucumber salad right away or store it in your fridge for up to one day.
Aline’s Suggestion
- The serving is for 2 people as a light main dish or for 4 people as a starter.
- You can add more garlic if desired.
- You can eat the cilantro with the steam, don’t only use the leaves.
- Top it with fresh chili pepper rings if you like it extra spicy.
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