I love cucumbers. I love how they marry hydration with crunch, and then there’s that unique taste. Years ago, a Taiwanese friend taught me to make a simple marinade for sliced cucumbers using soy sauce, white vinegar, garlic, and sambal oelek. I make them on repeat. Then I branched out and made a garlic-forward version, the kind where you smash the cucumbers into irregular pieces, then marinate with lots of chopped garlic, chile flakes, salt, and sesame oil.
Cucumbers are a perfect foil for condiments of all kinds, so it’s not surprising that the cucumber king of TikTok is going viral with every single cucumber salad recipe he posts. Here’s his compilation of 100 cucumber posts:
@logagm Girl, they are all the best🥒
♬ girl so confusing - darian
An Ottowa-based young man with a mop of bleached blonde hair looks out at us and says, “Sometimes you need to eat a whole cucumber.” He’s Logan Moffitt, a TikTok star known for his love of Korean food. This summer, Moffitt made a right turn into a bushel of cucumbers.
Here’s his OG recipe featuring soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, MSG, rice wine vinegar, grated garlic, a little sugar, some chili oil, and some green onion:
@logagm The original best way to eat entire cucumber
♬ original sound - Logan
You may not realize, but cucumbers are actually seasonal. Summer is the best time to eat them, and as usual, getting them from the farmers market means you can experience many more varieties than what’s available in the grocery store. Moffitt brandishes a long English hothouse cucumber at the beginning of each of these themed videos. But don’t feel you need to buy a cucumber that here in LA comes tightly wrapped in plastic. I use Persian cucumbers or whatever I see at the farmers market. Japanese and Armenian varieties are delicious and would work well in these salads.
Moffitt’s videos take the following track. He cuts the cucumber using a mandoline placed directly over a quart-size plastic container, known as a “deli.” Then he adds whatever ingredients or seasonings will enrobe the cuke slices. He almost always includes a bit of MSG, saying, “And MSG, obviously.” Because his deadpan commentary is always the same, watching is like a ritual. I’m sure grocery stores are wondering why there has been a run on cucumbers, and why people are asking where the MSG is. The drama of the videos comes when he puts the lid on the super full deli and shakes the thing like a cocktail. Half the pleasure of watching Moffitt in his cucumber phase is the suspense. Will he be able to actually get the ingredients to mix without dumping it all out into a bowl? Countless followers are trying to do the same.