Is it too hot to cook? Does the thought of even turning on the microwave feel like it might tip you too close to the surface of the sun? We are long overdue to talk about my favorite heat wave meal, one I’ve been holding out on you for five too many summers. As the president of Overthinkers Anonymous, I had my reasons. What if you’re not as obsessed with inhaling a pound of fridge-cold cucumbers as I am? What if the mere whiff of peanut sesame noodle dressing doesn’t make you want to climb into a vat of it? What if my favorite salad tofu — firm silken — isn’t your favorite salad tofu? What if you don’t have a favorite salad tofu? [Six question marks in a paragraph might be a record!]
This starts with a reduced portion of the peanut sesame noodle sauce I’ve been making since college, or 100 years ago [“did they have cars back then?”] according to my children. Whenever there’s leftovers, I happily toss them with any kind of raw vegetable, from grated carrots to shredded cabbage, but cucumbers are my go-to, especially topped with minced salted peanuts and scallion. It’s perfect. We could stop there. But when I want it to feel like even more of a full meal, I add tofu, and if you can find firm silken tofu, which has silken’s smooth texture but holds its shape when sliced, it’s a pillowy dream here. Together these thick batons of cool tofu + crisp cucumbers + a heavenly dressing that does all the lifting + a layer of crunchy, salty, spicy stuff are the only thing I can consider eating when it’s this hot out. Maybe you’ll be converted too.
Cucumber Crunch Salad with Tofu
- 4 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons honey or brown sugar
- 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced or finely grated
- 1 small garlic clove, minced or finely grated
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- Hot sauce, chili paste, or chili crisp to taste
- Water, if needed
- 1 14- to 16-ounce package persian cucumbers (5 to 6)
- 1 scallion
- 3 tablespoons salted roasted peanuts, chopped small
- 1 package firm or extra-firm silken tofu (usually a 10- to 12-ounce package)
- Toasted black and white sesame seeds (optional)
Dressing
Assembly
Prepare the vegetables and tofu: Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise, then each half three more times into long wedge-shaped pieces (i.e. 6 long pieces per cucumber). Cut them into 1 1/2-inch lengths on a diagonal and add them to the big bowl with the dressing.
Finely chop the scallion, then add peanuts to the cutting board and chop them tiny with the scallions. Set aside.
Remove the tofu from its package and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut it into a grid of rectangles the height of the tofu block (see photo for reference).
Assemble and serve: Arrange half of the tofu on a serving plate and drizzle with half of the reserved, thinned dressing. Combine cucumbers and dressing and heap half on the tofu. Repeat with remaining tofu, reserved dressing, and dressed cucumbers and finish with the scallion-peanut mixture. Drizzle or dot chili crisp or hot sauce over, and finish with toasted sesame seeds for extra crunch, if you wish.
Eat right away. If left too long, the salt draws the water in the cucumber out, so I’d either just mix what I need or commit to finishing the whole dish. It won’t be as hard as you’d think.
Previously
6 months ago: Invisible Apple Cake
1 year ago: Easy Basque Cheesecake and Blistered Peas-in-the-Pod
2 years ago: Sliced Egg Sandwich
3 years ago: Summer Ricotta with Grilled Vegetables
4 years ago: Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches
5 years ago: Smashed Potatoes with Sweet Corn Relish
6 years ago: Chocolate Budino
7 years ago: Garlic-Lime Steak and Noodle Salad
8 years ago: Grilled Pepper and Torn Mozzarella Panzanella
9 years ago: The Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie, Revisited
10 years ago: Crispy Frizzled Artichokes
11 years ago: Coconut Brown Butter Cookies
12 years ago: Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies
13 years ago: Asparagus with Almonds and Yogurt Dressing
14 years ago: Fudge Popsicles
15 years ago: Spring Asparagus Pancetta Hash
16 years ago: Grilled Shrimp Cocktail and Graham Crackers
17 years ago: S’more Pie
18 years ago: Zucchini Carpaccio Salad
I do something very similar but have it over thinly sliced cabbage. And add some thinly sliced red peppers. I also sometimes use the baked tofu from TJs which is denser and adds some more flavor.
This is exactly what we need. Do you have a preferred brand of tofu? Thanks!
I’ve been using Morinaga Mori-Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu, but I’m sure others work.
I’m curious if you’ve tried it with crunchy tofu? Maybe that ruins the way the salad is supposed to be. I don’t think I’ve ever had uncooked tofu in a salad.
I haven’t but if you like it, no reason not to use it here.
Im not clear how many cucumbers. 1? 5 to 6?
Sorry for the confusion. I find that the packages of Persian cucumbers sometimes come in 14-ounce sizes and sometimes in 16-ounces. And there’s usually 5-6 in each package. So I tried to cover all grounds!
I didn’t have tofu, but I did have some leftover rotisserie chicken! And I had a package of mini cucumbers… so I made the dressing and just piled everything together, topped with the peanuts! It was like a chicken satay cucumber salad! YUM!!! I will make it with the tofu eventually but this was great with the chicken! The dressing is fantastic!!
Blessings be upon your house, Deb, I needed this so much today
What do you all think is the best substitute for peanuts/peanut butter? Almonds? Sunflower? Peanuts are the only allergen I’m concerned about.
Cashews and cashew butter for the win!
Cashews and cashew butter or sunflower seeds and sunflower butter
I’ve got a kid with a peanut allergy. I strongly prefer sunflower butter to soy butter, and I think it’s closer to the flavor of peanut butter (at least initially – the aftertaste is different) than almond butter is.
That said, I prefer pumpkin seeds as a whole/chopped peanut replacement over sunflower seeds for texture reasons. Pumpkin seed butter is also delicious in this kind of application, but it’s pricey and hard to find.
I like to bump up the flavor with some toasted sesame oil ( sometimes I only have sunflower butter) it gives it a umami flavor closer to peanut butter if there is no allergy issue.
I’d think about mixing some tahini in with these other suggestions!
Thank you for including a version with the salad heaped onto the silken tofu! My grocery store only ever has the one silken tofu and while it’s great for some things, it wouldn’t hold up at all mixed into this. Can’t wait to make this!
I have just made this with chicken as the husband will not put up with uncooked tofu (I personally would but such is family cooking). It’s very good and takes only a few minutes to bring together (it was leftover cooked chicken).
Wow, I’ve had a very similar thing living in my head this week (only reason I didn’t make it was my Trader Joe’s was out of silken tofu). I imagined piling the other ingredients on top of the uncut tofu block and drizzling the sauce on top. Sounds perfect for this weather, in either form.
This was magic . My husband kept asking “are we going to put the tofu in the air fryer or something “ as I was making it . Then proceeded to inhale it . Yum
I absolutely love recipes like this, but have a sesame and nut allergic son. I’ve tried butternut squash seed oil, roasted pumpkin oil, and some others – I haven’t yet found something that satisfies the toasted sesame seed oil in recipes like this? Any other ideas?
I wouldn’t try to replicate the sesame seed oil, go with another strong delicious oil like a chili oil or chili crisp.
Same situation here. I too have tried to substitute the others you mentioned and have found that the butternut squash seed comes the closest. Pumpkin seed oil is ok, but you have to make sure it is toasted like La Tourangelle’s – the Austrian variety is produced using a different method.
I am extremely jetlagged and read this as “Cucumber crunch salad without tofu” and I was wondering how you came up with that name 🤣
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I used almond butter instead of peanut butter and extra-firm tofu, so I just mixed everything together rather than being careful with the tofu step. And I added some red bell pepper for added crunch and color.
Fantastic!! Followed recipe exactly and it was an awesome and filling meal!
I am always questioning what “1/2 inch of ginger” really means. What’s the diameter of the ginger? The amount can vary widely depending on how large the piece of ginger is. Can you give me an approximate amount in teaspoons/tablespoons?
I’m desperate to procrastinate, so did a little sleuthing. This dressing recipe is pretty much a halved quantity of the dressing in the Peanut Sesame Noodles recipe linked in the post. That recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of minced ginger, so I think you’d do well with 1.5 teaspoons here.
Thank you. We made it last night with almost a full tablespoon of ginger (we measured it after mincing) and it wasn’t too gingery. But we wanted more dressing, so next time I will double it. Yum!
Most ginger is about 1″ thick but it’s honestly impossible to measure in spoonfuls as some microplane it (me) and others chop it. Maybe 1 to 2 teaspoons? You can add more to taste.
According to taste, add more if you think it’s too mild. Nothing to stress about😊
Made this tonight!! I already loved that dressing from those noodles, so happy to have another way to use it. I bought the silken tofu, but couldn’t bring myself to use it – I had to use regular super firm tofu lol. In case anyone is interested, it works fine with super firm tofu!! I also added some jicama for extra crunch. YUM!!
Where does one find firm silken tofu? My regular grocery store (HEB) tends to have firm, extra firm, and silken but I’ve never seen firm silken. Silken when I’ve used in other recipes definitely just calls apart, but would firm tofu work in this instance texturally?
I’m fortunate to have a Japanese market nearby, and they carry firm silken tofu — I’d think other Asian markets might, as well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in an American supermarket. I think you could use any kind of tofu here, as long as you like it, but regular firm tofu has a coarser texture that I’m not sure would be enjoyable. I would probably try regular silken tofu, following Deb’s directions to just cut it into big slabs and take bites out of it along with the cucumbers. Or I might use the marinated baked tofu you can often find in the supermarket, or maybe just shred some rotisserie chicken instead.
I found Mori-Nu extra firm silken tofu at my HEB in the Asian foods aisle (versus the refrigerated section where I normally find tofu). It’s shelf-stable and comes in a box!
This is a good tip! I didn’t know it was shelf stable so I was looking in the refrigerated section. Going to try it tonight with regular firm tofu – but my family loves that.
Sounds perfect for summer and totally different from all the other salads in my rotation. Will try it!
Looks super tasty! It’s quite similar to two Indonesian/Singaporean/Malaysian dishes – gado gado and tauhu goreng, for those who want to go deeper into the peanut/chili/tofu/cucumber combo universe.
Thank you for this suggestion – these dishes sound delicious!
Delicious, cool, great texture. Now I know what you mean by “inhalable”! And thank you for introducing me to extra firm silken tofu.
We ate the leftovers cold and straight from the fridge, and the cucumbers had held up. We did use Kirby cucumbers from the Farmers Market.
Hahaha. I’m the one. The one who could live the rest of my life without cucumbers and tofu. Pretty amazing that you’ve given us all these recipes and this is the first one I’m not interested in. Made me laugh. Thankyou, Deb, for the wonderful recipes!
We eat so much tofu but for some reason I just can’t do cold silken tofu. I thought this recipe may be the turning point for me but the texture and temperature combo just don’t work for me. The sauce and cucumbers are delicious so it’s no fault of the recipe! The second day I cooked the tofu which helped.
This recipe was an after work life saver. Just the thing for a family dinner in the sweltering summer, and yet another entry in the Deb-gets-my-kids-to-enthusiastically-eat-vegetables saga.
Made a half-batch just for me, and swapped in some tomato for a cuke. FWIW, I used toasted sesame seeds plus olive oil in place of the toasted sesame seed oil – am out of the latter.
I am sick of our hot summer weather (I know it’s hardly started), and I’ve wanted more ways to eat tofu as a main dish. This dish really fits the bill. I would also recommend it to those who are on the fence or curious about tofu, as its neutral flavors get lost between the other flavors and textures.
This might be the salad of the summer!! Was so great with the firm tofu that my store had that I won’t worry about sourcing firm silken (though I’ll keep an eye out!). Thanks for a crunchy delight.
This salad is a keeper. The dressing is really nice and I only had firm tofu in the fridge, so used it and it was really good. I was pleasantly surprised how the textures really work in this dish. Very nice during this hot summer. Love the crunch. I was inspired to make the noodle dish as well. This dressing will be made often. Even my husband is giving the noodles a try, of course, he’s adding chicken breast and chili crisp. I like mine mild with tofu. Match made in heaven. Thanks so much, Deb.
Long time reader, first time commenter. This looks & sounds wonderful! But if I make this for friends who are not tofu lovers, do you think this would work with pasta, maybe radiatori, instead of the tofu? Thanks!
This was yummy! And easy! I made it exactly as written. Then I added more peanuts for more crunch. And sriracha for a teeny kick. Basically anything you put in this sauce is gonna be delish! I have several SK stand-bys, this will be another.
This was delicious! Love to see tofu recipes on SK! I’ve made peanut sauce (now sunbutter sauce thanks to household allergies) dozens of times but the ratios listed here were expert and improved on a classic. I didn’t have the recommended tofu so I put thin strips of drained & marinated extra firm tofu in the air fryer until crispy and it worked wonderfully. Thanks to the commenters who recommended adding a tad more sesame oil if using sunbutter! (I have had to add rice or bread on the side but that’s just me).
I made this last week. Doubled the sauce and the tofu, but kept it to 6 of the mini cucumbers. I used regular extra firm tofu, not silken. It was a big hit! I am making it again tonight. I was worried about the leftovers after Deb’s final comment, but they were fine. We took them to a picnic two days later and devoured them.