Super easy refreshing Chinese Smashed Cucumber Salad recipe with crunchy cucumber and a garlicky, savoury, spicy, tangy sauce. One of the best Asian cucumber salad recipes with minimum ingredients and minimum preparation time!
Perfect side dish for any main dish. If you love Asian-style cucumber salads and pickle recipes, don’t miss out on our spicy Korean cucumber salad recipe. They’re equally delicious, easy to make and the perfect side dish to pair with any main meal!
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Why smash the cucumbers?
When you slightly bash the cucumber, it bursts open, making it easier to absorb the flavour. A rough, uneven-textured smashed cucumber soaks up the dressing sauce better than a regular sliced cucumber.
Best Cucumbers for this Salad
I used mini cucumbers, which are very crunchy in texture and great for this quick salad recipe. You can also try it with English cucumbers, Persian cucumbers, Kirby cucumbers, or a choice of Asian cucumbers.
Choose fresh, firm, dark green cucumbers without any soft spots or wrinkles. Smaller cucumbers are crisper and less in seeds. Make sure the cucumbers are free of yellow spots. Yellow spots on cucumbers are not fresh, and it’s very unlikely to be crispy. If you are a fan of cucumber salad, you might like our Japanese cucumber salad as well. It's so easy to make with simple ingredients.
Ingredients You'll Need
The following is a quick guide with photos. Please scroll down to find a printable recipe and measurements on the recipe card.
- Cucumbers
- Salt
- Garlic
- Rice vinegar
- Regular soy sauce
- Brown Sugar
- Sesame oil
- Chili oil
- Fresh chilli
- Toasted sesame seeds
Substitutes and Add-ons
- You can add Korean Gochugaru pepper flakes instead of chilli oil and fresh chillies.
- For a more authentic taste, use Chinese black rice vinegar, which is a bit malty and sweeter in flavour.
- Fresh lemon juice can also be used as a vinegar substitute.
- Brown sugar is added to balance the salty and sour dressing sauce. You can omit sugar if you prefer it less sweet.
How to Make Smashed Cucumber Salad
1. Wash and Prepare
Rinse the cucumbers in cold water to remove pesticides or dirt. If you are using mini or small cucumbers with thin skin, you don’t need to peel them.
For thick skinned cucumber, use a peeler to peel off the thick skin and leave some part for the colour.
Use a sharp knife to slice off the end tips and discard the trimmed tips.
2. Smash the Cucumber
- Slightly bash the cucumber and let it burst open.
- Cut it diagonally into bite-size pieces.
- Place the cucumbers in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt and toss it well. Set it aside for 5 minutes.
- Remove the water from the cucumbers and gently pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
3. Toss Smashed Cucumbers with Salad Dressing
- Combine rice vinegar, regular soy sauce, brown sugar, grated garlic, chilli oil, and fresh chillies. Mix well until the sugar dissolves.
- Pour the dressing sauce in and toss everything well. Then, transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top.
Khin's Top Tips:
Salt the cucumbers! Salting cucumbers is a simple cooking hack you must not skip when making pickles or salad. Sprinkle salt over the cucumber slices to pull out the excess moisture, and then you can easily drain the water out.
Customize the seasonings - This Asian cucumber salad dressing has a sweet, tangy, and savoury taste. You can easily adjust the seasonings to your liking.
Add a Choice of Toppings - Toasted sesame seeds or roasted crushed peanuts add a nutty, crunchy bite. Toasted almond flakes, pumpkin seeds, cashews, and crushed walnuts are also great add-ons.
How to Make Ahead & Store for Freshness
You can store leftover cucumber salad in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to one day. It might lose a bit of a crunchy texture overtime.
To make it ahead, store the cucumbers and dressing sauce separately. Add the dressing sauce just before serving to keep it crisp.
FAQs
Is smashed cucumber salad spicy?
No, it's not a spicy salad. I just love to add chilli oil and fresh chillies for a kick of heat. You can either make it spicy or mild to your own taste by adjusting the amount of chillies.
What to serve together with this cucumber salad?
Smashed cucumber salad pairs perfectly with a variety of dishes, such as stir-fries, noodles, rice, soups, or any main meal you wish!
What other ingredients can you add?
You can also add salad onions, salad tomatoes, celery, fried shallots, or crispy fried garlic for more flavour and texture.
Pairing Suggestions
Pair this smashed cucumber salad with Air Fryer Prawn Toast, Spam Fried Rice, or Dan Dan Noodles and make it a satisfying complete meal.
Following are more of my favourite dishes to pair:
More Chinese Side Dishes
If you enjoyed this Chinese cucumber salad recipe, here are more of our restaurant-quality Chinese side dish recipes you can try out.
- Easy Pak Choi Recipe with Garlic Sauce ( Ready in 10 minutes! )
- Yuk Sung ( Chinese Lettuce Wraps ) ( Loaded with chicken and crunchy veggies! )
- Chinese Salt and Pepper Squid ( Better than takeout recipe! )
- Spicy Peanut Noodles ( Quick noodle salad with spicy peanut sauce. )
If you've tried this Chinese cucumber salad recipe, please do share your feedback in the comments and give me star 🌟 ratings!
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📖 Recipe
Smashed Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 6-8 Mini cucumber Or one large cucumber
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2-3 Cloves Garlic Grated or minced
- 1 tbsp Rice vinegar Or Chinese black vinegar
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce Regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Brown sugar Add more or less sugar to taste
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 2 tsp Chilli oil Crispy chilli oil ( optional )
- 2-3 Fresh chillies Hot or Mild ( optional )
- 1 tsp Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Rinse the cucumbers in cold water to remove pesticides or dirt. Use a sharp knife to slice off the end tips and discard the trimmed tips.
- Slightly bash the cucumbers and let them burst open. Cut it into bite-size pieces.
- Sprinkle salt and toss it well. Set it aside for 5 minutes.
- Combine, rice vinegar, regular soy sauce, brown sugar, grated garlic, chilli oil, and fresh chillies. Mix well until sugar dissolved.
- Remove the water from the cucumbers and pat dry with a paper towel. Pour the sauce in and toss everything well. Finish with toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Notes
- For large thick-skin cucumber, use a peeler to peel off the thick skin and leave some part for the colour. If you are using mini or small cucumbers with thin skin, you don’t need to peel them.
- Omit chilli oil and fresh chillies if you don’t like it spicy.
- You can also add Korean Gochugaru pepper flakes.
- This Asian cucumber salad dressing has a sweet, tangy, and savoury taste. You can easily adjust the seasonings to your liking.
- For crunchy toppings, you can also add roasted peanuts, toasted almond flakes, pumpkin seeds, cashews, fried shallots, or fried garlic.
Purple Thumb says
I was looking for a different recipe and came across your blog today. I'm excited to have found it, and I'm looking forward to trying many of your recipes.
I just made this smashed cucumber salad for lunch today, and it's delicious! I will be making this regularly.
Thank you!
Khin says
Thanks for your feedback, Purple. Glad you enjoyed it.