SUNOMONO

When I was growing up, my mother used to thinly slice cucumbers and onions, mix them together with some apple cider vinegar and sugar, and serve them as a freshly pickled salad for dinner.  Of course, your Grandmother Munroe had never heard of "sunomono" but I did after marrying Dad.  I have a favorite cookbook that is no longer in print called Japanese Country Cookbook.  Years ago, Carol Gardner recommended it to me.  In it, I found a very basic and simple recipe for sunomono dressing with just three essential ingredients: 6 T vinegar, 2 T sugar, and 1 tsp. shoyu (soy sauce).

If you use rice vinegar, keep in mind that it is weaker than other vinegars and you may have to use more to get the proper acidity.  I usually use the apple cider vinegar that I love and grew up on. (The only thing I use white vinegar for is cleaning!)  Adjust the ingredients to meet your taste preferences (I usually add more sugar, about 3 T instead of 2T) and experiment with using it on other fresh veggies if you like.  At some point in time, Dad and I started adding toasted sesame seed to the mix and we like it that way, too.  We always used yellow onions but  the only onions we could get in India were red ones that are a bit sweeter and we developed a taste for them.  Experiment and come up with something you like.  It seems better when it sits for a few hours or overnight.

Peel the cucumbers?  We did!  If you buy an English cucumber, you don't have to worry about the seeds and may not bother with the peeling either.  Make it your own and enjoy!