Asian Cucumber Carrot Salad
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This fresh salad made of cucumbers, carrots, and onions is tossed in a Prik Nam Pla sauce which gives it a bit of sweetness, a bit of heat, and a bit of tartness. Put it on top of salads or eat it as a side dish.
I often have a hard time figuring out what to make as a side dish whenever I make Asian dishes. My go to side dishes are rice or sauteed vegetables.
As we make a lot of Asian food this is often a real problem. While we could just have an egg roll or a won ton on the side, I usually want something that has vegetables in it.
I have been making a lot of different Asian salads recently. A grilled chicken salad with homemade sesame soy dressing is one of my go to summer favorites. I also have a great Thai Chicken salad with crunchy noodles on top. Mostly recently I made a Thai Ground Beef salad which had this Asian cucumber and carrot salad on top of it.
The cucumber carrot salad is super easy to make and can be used as a side dish, on top of a salad, or on top of a rice bowl. It’s basically just carrots, cucumbers, and red onions tossed with Prik Nam Pla sauce.
What is Prik Nam Pla?
Prik Nam Pla is a classic Thai condiment made from fish sauce, Thai chilies, and lime juice. It’s used as a table condiment to add a salty, spicy, and sweet kick to dishes like rice, noodles, and stir-fries. It’s an essential part of Thai cuisine.
I looked for the Thai condiment in my local grocer but they didn’t have it. Luckily I found a recipe to make it myself which is also easy and has minimal ingredients.
While I used red onions in my cucumber carrot salad the original recipe used thinly sliced radishes. I just like my fresh vegetable salads with red onions to give them more flavor.
Ingredients:
- carrots
- cucumbers
- red onions
- garlic
- prik nam pla
To make the salad use a vegetable peeler and make long carrot ribbons. Place them in a bowl. Peel the cucumbers to make ribbons as well. Thinly slice the red onion.
Place all the vegetables in a bowl along with the garlic and prik nam pla. Toss well to coat. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
This salad is super fresh and has a ton of flavor from the prik nam pla. It’s a bit spicy, a little bit sweet, and a little bit tart. The onion adds flavor to it as well.
What type of cucumber should I use?
I used mini cucumbers because they usually have a small amount of seeds in them. You can use regular cucumbers but you can peel them into ribbons very well.
We had this cucumber salad on top of a salad and it added a ton of flavor to it. Since it makes a decent amount we had a bit of leftovers which we served over top of rice along with some grilled chicken the next day.
How do you store Asian Cucumber salad?
Store it in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The vegetables may take on a bit of color from the sauce but they will be fine for the 5 days.
Asian Cucumber Carrot Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large carrots peeled
- 2 mini cucumbers or 1 large cucumber
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup Prik Nam Pla
Instructions
- Using a vegetable peeler peel the carrots into long ribbons. Place in a bowl.
- Use the peeler and peel the cucumber into long ribbons and place in the bowl.
- Thinly slice the red onion and add to the bowl.
- Add in the garlic and prik nam pla and toss to coat.
Notes
