The One Ingredient That Makes Cucumber Sandwiches Even Better

Some of the best inspiration for new food combos can be found in old food combos. Take the classic peanut butter and pickle sandwich, for instance. It pairs a tangy ingredient with a gooey sweet-and-salty condiment to make all-around perfection on two slices of bread. Now, swap out the pickle for cucumber slices to create a peanut butter and cucumber sandwich, a nostalgia-inducing dish that gives a nod to some of your favorite international cuisines. 

The cucumbers are a no-brainer here, given that pickles are, well, pickled cucumbers, usually Kirby or mini-English cukes, though not always. Starting with un-pickled cucumbers gives sandwich lovers more of that fresh-from-the-garden crunch that the best cukes have. Cucumbers are naturally on the sweet side and have a high water content, so they bring bursts of freshness to your sandwich that dill pickles don't. And, as if all this doesn't already sound yummy enough, some savvy peanut butter and cucumber sandwich fans smear on a dab of butter on the bread as, perhaps, an homage to the classic English cucumber sandwich.

While the peanut butter and cucumber combo might sound unusual, especially on its own, it isn't so strange if you reach outside the confines of American lunchtime (or British teatime) fare and hop on a plane, flavorfully speaking, to Asia. Peanut butter and cucumbers regularly star in such popular snacks as Vietnamese summer rolls or Asian cucumber salad. 

In the case of the summer rolls, you'll often find ingredients like fresh cucumbers, green onions, red or yellow bell peppers, avocados, carrots, cabbage, and a bit of cilantro — or some combination thereof — stuffed inside a rice paper wrapper. A spicy peanut butter-based dipping sauce adds a sweet-and-spicy nip to each bite. For our purposes here, this veggie-packed dish provides inspiration for a supremely yummy peanut butter and cucumber sandwich. 

For some extra tang and loads of texture, begin with two slices of sourdough bread. Toasting it makes for an extra satisfying crunch. Once the bread is ready, apply a generous amount of peanut butter on each piece of bread. Top the peanut butter with some sriracha (perhaps Huy Fong Foods' very own hot chili sauce) then layer on sliced cucumber, yellow or orange bell pepper, sprouts, and some cilantro.

Choosing the right cucumbers makes or breaks a sandwich like this, given how prominently their flavor figures into its makeup. In light of that, opt for either English cucumbers or mini cucumbers. Aside from having a pleasing crisp texture, they're less likely to be bitter than other kinds of cucumbers.

Additionally, try to work with fresh, crunchy cucumbers. It isn't necessary to treat the cucumber in a salt dip, which is Alice Waters' tip for turning the crunchy veggie into a salad, to pull this off. Just slice your fresh cucumbers right before you're ready to make the sandwich.

Finally, for a really peanutty aftertaste, whip up some homemade nut butter – preferably peanut butter, of course — and mix it with a bit of garlic, a dash of soy sauce, a sprinkle of powdered ginger, a squirt or two of sesame oil, and some cayenne pepper to create a delicious dipping sauce. If you dunk the sandwich into the sauce on the regular, you'll get a double dose of spicy peanut flavor in every bite.