The Key To Preventing Watery Cucumber Salad Is All In The Seeds
With agricultural roots in India, and with their presence even appearing in the Bible, cucumbers have a long and interesting history. Their popularity probably grew from their mild flavor and refreshing flesh: They're an appealing addition to sandwiches, salads, infused water, cocktails, and even face masks. The only slight drawback to using these green beauties is that their high moisture content can dilute the dish they're used in — which isn't always what you want.
Cucumbers are made of 90% water, so it's really no surprise that these green cylinders can be so drippy. If you're wondering why your cucumber salad keeps losing its zing, it's likely that your cucumbers are diluting the dressing or watering down the other flavors. To avoid this runny travesty: Remove the seeds before adding the chopped cucumber to other ingredients. As a bonus, this hack doesn't involve any salt, so you can flavor your salads and other cucumber dishes (and cocktails) however you like.
Cucumber salad 101
To begin, give your cucumbers a good scrub or wash, this is essential for food safety, and your fresh produce could be dirtier than you realize. Next, you want to carefully chop the cucumber lengthways, making it much easier to scoop out all the tiny seeds and gel-like flesh that inhabits the center of the cucumber. The seeds contain the most liquid, so removing these will help reduce your salad's wateriness and keep it fresher for longer. Some cucumber varieties have no seeds; if this is the case, you can skip this tip.
Once the seeds are removed, you can then mix your chopped cucumber into a salad. You can combine your cucumbers with onion, sugar, salt, and red wine vinegar for a simple cucumber salad, or try adding a little Asian flare with garlic, soy sauce, and ginger. In either case, make sure you let cucumbers slightly infuse before serving. To avoid food waste, you can always add the cucumber seeds to water and create a highly nutritious and low-calorie drink.
Cucumber variety matters
There are almost 100 cucumber varieties, so selecting the perfect cucumbers for a salad may feel mystifying. Some of the most common varieties of cucumbers include English, Persian, Garden, Armenian, and White, while some of the more unfamiliar cucumber varieties include Japanese or Itachi. As mentioned above, seedless cucumbers do exist, and their water content is lower than other varieties — so they're perfect for cucumber salads.
If you can't find any of these, ideally, you want to select a cucumber that has delicate skin; these will have a wonderful crunch and not require peeling. Yet, you also want enough flesh that scooping out the seeds won't take away too much of the vegetable. English or Persian cucumbers usually fulfill these roles pretty well and serve as excellent, reliable choices when it comes to cucumbers. When the time comes to make another cucumber salad, get started with de-seeding, and see just how intense the flavor and texture can be.