Crisp cucumbers in a delicious tangy, savory, and sweet dressing with a hint of spice. This simple and easy Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad is a great way to eat your vegetables! It's restaurant-quality and will save you money on takeout!
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What is Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad?
Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad features thick slices cucumbers dressed in garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, mirin, and chili oil. A refreshing and tasty salad that hits the spot!
It's one of the most popular side dishes served at Din Tai Fung, a famous Michelin star Taiwanese restaurant chain known to serve dumplings, noodles and Taiwanese food.
What makes this chilled Asian cucumber salad so delicious are the super crunchy cucumber pieces. The special salting method draws out excess moisture in the cucumbers through osmosis.
This copycat Din Tai Fung cucumber salad is made of simple ingredients and is easy to make in little time. A great vegetable side dish to make for meal preparation so you can whip it out to eat chilled on those busy weeknights!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to recipe card for exact measurements.
- Mini Cucumbers (aka Persian cucumbers): these cucumbers have a thin skin and are crunchier than regular cucumbers. Or substitute with two seedless English cucumbers. Avoid using cucumbers with seeds or thick skin.
- Salt: table salt, sea salt or kosher salt will work to draw out excess moisture in the cucumbers.
Dressing
- Minced Garlic
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Rice vinegar: or substitute with apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
- Sesame oil: if you're allergic, omit completely and substitute with neutral oil.
- White Granulated Sugar: or substitute with cane sugar or honey.
- Rice Mirin: a popular sweet rice cooking wine used in Japanese cuisine. It’s sweeter than cooking sake and has a very low alcoholic taste.
- Chili oil: homemade or store bought chili oil will work!
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Use fresh cucumbers with tight dark green vibrant skin. Avoid cucumbers that have wrinkled skin or flesh.
- Slice the cucumbers at the right thickness, ideally 1 cm. If you slice them too thin, they won't be as crunchy. If you slice them too thick, the dressing won't be able to penetrate through the cucumber.
- Salt the cucumbers for at least 20 minutes to draw out excess water which makes them extra crunchy. This also prevents excess water from diluting the salad dressing.
- Chill the cucumbers in the dressing for an additional 10 minutes in the fridge for extra flavor.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad:
- Trim the ends off the cucumbers and slice the cucumber into 1-cm thick rounds. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Sprinkle salt on top of cucumber slices. Massage salt into cucumbers.
- Let cucumbers sit for 20 minutes in the salt to draw out excess water to make them crunchier.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine Dressing ingredients as listed.
- Rinse the cucumbers with running cold water to remove excess salt. Strain out as much excess water as possible.
- Pat cucumbers dry with clean paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Transfer back into a large clean bowl.
- Pour dressing over cucumbers. Mix well. Enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 3-4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Note: with time the cucumbers will become saltier as it absorbs the dressing so it's best to enjoy this salad fresh.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing din tai fung cucumber salad because the freezer will make the cucumbers mushy.
Pairing Suggestions
Din Tai Fung cucumber salad serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, fried rice, chow mein, lo mein, Shanghai fried noodles, or plain noodles
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
- protein dishes like Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken, Mongolian Chicken, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Chinese Braised Tofu and more!
FAQ
Din Tai Fung Cucumber salad can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days and enjoyed chilled.
Yes, feel free to remove the chili oil and reduce the amount to your liking to make this less or not spicy.
Other recipes you may enjoy
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb mini cucumbers sliced into 1 cm thick pieces
- 2 teaspoon salt to draw out excess moisture from cucumbers
Dressing:
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1.5 tablespoon regular soy sauce (not dark soy sauce)
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil toasted kind
- 2.5 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon mirin
- ½ tablespoon Chinese chili oil Chinese kind recommended or use any chili oil you enjoy
Instructions
- Trim the ends off the cucumbers and slice the cucumber into 1-cm thick rounds. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Sprinkle salt on top of cucumber slices. Massage salt into cucumbers.
- Let cucumbers sit for 20 minutes in the salt to draw out excess water to make them crunchier.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine Dressing ingredients as listed.
- Rinse the cucumbers with running cold water to remove excess salt. Strain out as much excess water as possible.
- Pat cucumbers dry with clean paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Transfer back into a large clean bowl.
- Pour dressing over cucumbers. Mix well. Enjoy!
Tanja
Very delicious and easy to prekäre.
Whole family enjoyed this salad. Thanks a lot for your recipes!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for sharing your positive review, Tanja! So glad your whole family enjoyed it 🙂
Mary Harward
Have made this before for myself and it was delicious! Taking as my Thanksgiving side this year :).
christieathome
Thank you so much for making it multiple times, Mary! I hope your guests will enjoy it for Thanksgiving 🙂
J NEPTUNEDAUGHTER-IN-LAW
YES, I LIKE VERY MUCH!
christieathome
Thanks for making it! Glad you liked it!
Liz
My family and I loved it!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Liz! I am so thrilled to hear that your family loved it 🙂
Danielle K
Just made this, tastes great! Can't wait to try it later today after the flavors have had a chance to absorb. I used chili garlic sauce which is thicker than a chili oil but it's delicious! I doubled the recipe for the marinade since I had so many cucumbers.
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Danielle! So happy to hear that it worked out well with the chili garlic sauce. Have a lovely day!