The viral recipe test · October 29, 2026
Does Logan's cucumber salad work?
Works, with a fixA photo like it · Wikimedia Commons
Works, but after 10 minutes it's swimming. Salt the slices first and cut back the soy.
The recipe: Logan Moffitt · @logagm on TikTok
In the summer of 2024 Logan Moffitt started slicing a whole cucumber into a container, adding a sauce and shaking it, under the line "sometimes you need to eat an entire cucumber". It became a series, and growers credited it with a jump in cucumber sales.
What goes wrong, and the fix
A whole cucumber, sliced paper-thin, shaken in a lidded container with soy, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic, a little sugar and sesame seeds. Eaten straight from the tub.
- Ten minutes later it's sitting in a pool of watery sauce.Toss the slices with salt and let them drain in a sieve for 10 minutes, then squeeze gently. They stay crisp and soak up the sauce.
- It's much too salty.Soy, fish sauce and MSG all bring salt. Once the cucumber is salted, use half the soy you'd think and taste before adding more.
- Raw garlic burns.Grate it into the vinegar first and let it sit a minute; it softens.
- Cut fingers.Use the mandoline's guard, or a sharp knife and a little patience. Thin is good; paper-thin isn't required.
Chef's version
You need
- 1 English cucumber (or 3 small Persian cucumbers)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- A pinch of MSG (optional)
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- Chili crisp or chili flakes, to taste
How to make it
- Slice the cucumber into thin rounds, about 1/16 inch, with a mandoline (use the guard) or a sharp knife.
- Toss the slices with the salt in a sieve set over a bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Press gently to squeeze out the water and tip it away.
- In a lidded container, stir the rice vinegar and grated garlic and let it sit a minute. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, sugar and MSG and stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the cucumber, scallion and sesame seeds, put the lid on and shake hard for 10 seconds.
- Taste and add more soy or chili crisp if you like. Eat straight away, from the container.
Good to know
- Make the sauce ahead, but only shake in the cucumber when you're ready to eat.
- For a meal, add cooked rice and a soft-boiled egg.
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