Sunomono is similar to namasu (‘nama’ means uncooked and ‘su’ means vinegar), which are Japanese dishes made with uncooked vegetables or seafood marinated in vinegar. The vinegar works like a dressing in sunomono while the ingredients are marinated for a long period of time to make namasu. So, a dish may be classified as sunomono or namasu based on the marination time. Sunomono is similar to a salad or pickle. Ingredients used for sunomono may include cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, cucumber, mushrooms, daikon, lettuce, onions, seaweed and sometimes seafood or meat. The ingredients are usually doused with sweetened vinegar. Eating sunomono with chopsticks adds to the charm. This recipe uses cucumbers; the salad is also called kyuri sunomono in Japanese. It is light, crunchy and refreshing. Sunomono may be served as an appetiser or as a palate cleanser between courses, or as a side dish to accompany the mains.
