Cucumbers aren’t necessarily packed with flavor, but they’re crunchy and hydrating, and make for a delicious addition to a number of meals. From homemade tzatziki to a nutritious chopped salad packed with veggies, or simply adding some to bread for a cucumber sandwich, it’s an essential ingredient in the kitchen.
Knowing how to store them is also crucial when it comes to maintaining their crunch and freshness. But even if you do store them properly, cucumbers are made up of 96 percent water, meaning they can quickly go soggy when used in recipes. Many chefs advise scooping out the insides when adding them to a dish to stop them from watering it down, but there’s another method that’s less fiddly.
Instead of buying a cucumber just to scoop it all out and throw it away, which can feel like a waste of food, simply grab some salt and sprinkle it over the vegetable.
This process known as osmosis is often used in cooking to change the texture and moisture content of food, and when used on vegetables, results in them being less watery and more crisp.
In an article for HuffPost, Amy Glover tested the method when preparing a red onion and cucumber salad for the week and said she’ll “never go back”.
Despite keeping it in the fridge for a few days, she said: “I’m three days into my salad, and I have yet to face the gross cucumber water-feta sludge I’m usually left with at this point when I don’t core my cucumbers.”
Cucumbers can often result in soggy salads, and make for a rather unappetising meal if you’ve left in the fridge for a few days only to come back to a mushy mess.
Not only did Amy find that salting the cucumbers meant there was no wilted salad leaves or pool of liquid, she also said doing this made “the produce taste even more delicious”.
To prepare crunchy and flavourful cucumbers, in an article for All Recipes, Katherine Martinko advised adding salt to your cucumber slices or pieces and leaving them to sit in a sieve for 30 minutes.
Place the sieve on top of a bowl to allow the water to drain from the cucumber, and after 30 minutes, you can dry your cucumber with a clean towel or paper towel.
You can change this based on how much cucumber you’re using, or how much time you have to prepare. Amy used a hefty pinch of salt and left her cucumber for just 10 minutes, before placing it on a paper-towel covered plate to dry.
Not only does this make for a more enjoyable and crunchy cucumber, but leaving it to drain also allows cucumbers to better absorb any sauces or dressings, as it can soak this up.