Cucumber-Sesame Salad

This salad is so easy to prepare, and no matter how often we eat it, it is never often enough. In Taiwan it frequently comes to the table with a plate of fried peanuts as an hors d’oeuvre, even before you’ve had a chance to order. (But watch out—you still get charged for it.)

Use the small, thin-skinned varieties of cucumber native to parts of Asia or the Middle East if you can—they have the best flavor.