Name: Big Girls, Test Kitchen: Spicy Cucumber Salad Spicy Cucumber Salad with Ginger, Shallots, and Mint Over Crispy Pan-Fried Flounder
Yield: Makes 4 side servings
Ingredients: 3 slicing cucumbers (or 1 large English cucumber), peeled and thinly sliced; 1 tablespoon minced shallot (from 1 small shallot); 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (from 1-inch knob ginger); 1 thai chile pepper, minced; 2 tablespoons vinegar; 2 teaspoons sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon thinly julienned mint leaves

Why it works: Cucumber and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 264 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Big Girls, Test Kitchen: Spicy Cucumber Salad Spicy Cucumber Salad with Ginger, Shallots, and Mint Over Crispy Pan-Fried Flounder

Makes 4 side servings

Ingredients

3 slicing cucumbers (or 1 large English cucumber), peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced shallot (from 1 small shallot)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (from 1-inch knob ginger)
1 thai chile pepper, minced
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon thinly julienned mint leaves

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

83Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

20 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Peppermint	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By biggirlssmallkitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Cucumber + shallottop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together264 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cucumber + minttop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together884 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ginger + minttop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together647 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Shallot + gingertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together565 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, shallot, ginger, pepper, vinegar, sugar):

Turmericfits better
Tarragonfits better
Allspicefits better
Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, shallot, ginger, pepper, vinegar, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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