There’s nothing more refreshing than a chilled cucumber salad in summer. There are two ways to prepare this dish in German cuisine: with a traditional oil and vinegar dressing or with schmand. Schmand is a German dairy product that is similar to sour cream and can easily be substituted with crème fraîche or American-style sour cream.
The most important thing to pay attention to when making cucumber salad is that the salad doesn’t turn out watery. Cucumbers contain a ton of water that gets drawn out of its cells once it gets seasoned with salt and sugar. Therefore, the excess water needs to be removed prior to marinating the salad.
It’s the same procedure as for German coleslaw (‘Krautsalat’). You need to salt your cucumber slices and leave them to rest for 20 minutes. After that time, you will notice that your cucumber slices start to sweat. This is the point at which you can drain them and lightly squeeze out all of that water. You don’t want this water to dilute your marinade.
What goes into the marinade for cucumber salad?
The marinade is a mixture of schmand, olive oil, and lemon juice. It’s important that you add finely minced shallots as specified because it is added raw to the salad. An onion would be too pungent in taste. The shallots lend a mild sweetness and bite to the dish.
Just like Swabian potato or carrot salad, cucumber salad tastes best when you give it some time to marinate before eating. The flavors need some time to mingle. 20 minutes is usually enough time for the cucumbers to soak up the flavor of the marinade.
It’s traditional to serve cucumber salad with goulash or pork pot roast. But especially in summer, it is also popular with lighter dishes like barbecued meat skewers.
Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream (‘Gurkensalat mit Schmand’)
Ingredients
- 1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the marinade:
- 3 tablespoons schmand or sour cream
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 shallot, finely minced, about 2 tablespoons
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped dill leaves
- black pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste
For garnishing:
- a handful of fresh dill leaves
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, massage the salt into the cucumber slices and set aside for 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the marinade. Whisk together all the ingredients for the marinade except for the salt.
- Take your cucumber slices and squeeze out as much excess water as possible. Add the cucumber slices to your marinade and toss everything well. Taste the salad and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt if needed. It’s best to let the salad marinate for at least 20 minutes in the fridge before serving. To serve, sprinkle some more fresh dill leaves on top of the salad.
oha, “schlabbriger” Gurkensalat ist soooo lecker
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