Refreshing cucumber marinated in a delicious spicy garlic soy-based sauce. This quick and easy spicy smacked cucumber salad is a great vegetable side dish made with minimal ingredients and in 10 minutes! A great way to add fiber to your meals.
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Spicy Smacked Cucumber Salad (aka Spicy smashed cucumber salad) features crunchy cucumbers in a garlicky, savoury and sweet sauce with sesame oil and chili oil. It's packed with umami, sweet, savoury and spicy flavours!
My Chinese spicy cucumber salad is a winner and it's best served with steamed rice, and your favorite protein. It's also made with simple pantry ingredients in only 10 minutes! Talk about simple.
This side dish is common way to eat cucumbers in Asia and there are many different variations, from garlicky to sweet. It's a great recipe for meal prep or for those busy weeks because you can quickly whip it out of the fridge to enjoy chilled.
In addition, you can use store bought chili oil or try my homemade Chinese Chili Oil. If you're not keen on spice, feel free to omit the chili oil altogether or use less.
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Mini cucumbers: or aka Persian cucumbers for that crunchy texture. Or substitute with English cucumber or any seedless cucumber with a thin skin.
- Salt: table salt, sea salt or kosher salt will all work.
Dressing
- 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.
- Sesame oil: toasted kind for that nutty flavor. Omit if you're allergic.
- Chinese Black Vinegar: is this is a black colored mild vinegar made of fermented black glutinous rice and often used in Chinese cuisine. The brand I use is called "Chinkiang Vinegar" and it's sold at most Asian markets in a clear bottle with a yellow label. Or substitute with rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Sesame Seeds: toasted kind or omit if you're allergic.
- White granulated sugar: or substitute with honey or maple syrup.
- Fresh garlic
- Chinese Chili Oil: feel free to use store bought or check out my recipe for a homemade version here. Or substitute with chili crisp or red chili flakes like Gochugaru combined with 1 tablespoon of neutral oil.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Use fresh cucumbers that are vibrant in color and are not rotting. Older cucumbers will taste slightly bitter and they won't be as crunchy.
- Smack the cucumbers hard because this breaks down the cucumber fibers allowing the cucumber to absorb the dressing better.
- Don't skip salting the cucumbers because this makes them crunchier! The salt forces the water content out of the cucumbers through the process of osmosis.
- Make sure to rinse the cucumbers of the salt otherwise the salad will be very salty!
- Strain out any excess liquids after rinsing the cucumbers because the excess liquid will dilute the dressing.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make Spicy Smacked Cucumber Salad:
- First slice the ends off the mini cucumbers. With the side of the knife, smash cucumbers a few times until they’re a bit flattened and broken down the centre.
- Then slice the cucumbers on an angle into 2-cm thick diagonal strips.
- Next transfer the sliced cucumbers to a bowl. Add salt and massage the salt into the cucumbers. Allow cucumbers to sit in salt for 5-10 minutes to draw out excess liquids. Discard liquid.
- Then rinse the cucumbers under cold running water to remove excess salt or it'll be too salty.
- Next strain the rinsed cucumbers removing as much excess water as possible.
- Lastly season the strained cucumbers with sauce ingredients and mix well. Enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 2 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Note: over time the cucumbers will release more liquids into the sauce and will become saltier therefore this dish is best enjoyed same day ideally.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing this spicy smacked cucumber salad since the cucumbers will become mushy.
Pairing Suggestions
Spicy smacked 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, plain noodles, soup noodles
- protein dishes like Ginger Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Soy Garlic Tofu, Chinese Braised Tofu, Soy Sauce Chicken, Oven-Roasted Char Siu or Air Fryer Char Siu, or Chinese Roasted Pork Belly.
FAQ
This can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. However, I don't recommend making it any more in advance or the salad will be too salty.
I recommend using a Chinese style chili oil. An excellent brand is one called “Lao Gan Ma”. It has a red label with a picture of a Chinese man on the label.
Hard enough to split the cucumbers in half but don't over smack it. Please watch my video to see how hard you would need to smack it.
📖 Recipe
10-min. Easy Spicy Smacked Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 6 mini cucumbers
- ½ teaspoon salt to drain water
Dressing
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1.5 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar or rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ½ tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Chinese Chili oil
Instructions
- Slice the ends off the mini cucumbers. With the side of the knife, smash cucumbers a few times until they’re a bit flattened and broken down the centre.
- Slice cucumbers on an angle into 2-cm thick diagonal strips.
- Transfer sliced cucumbers to a bowl. Add salt and massage the salt into the cucumbers. Allow cucumbers to sit in salt for 5-10 minutes to draw out excess liquids. Discard liquid.
- Rinse cucumbers under cold running water to remove excess salt or it'll be too salty.
- Strain the rinsed cucumbers removing as much excess water as possible.
- Season strained cucumbers with sauce ingredients and mix well. Enjoy!
Tamara
Super easy and yummy, even though I made some substitution as I made do with what I had in my pantry: regular cucumber instead of mini, didn't salt the cucumber, just used them straight thinly sliced. Didn't have chili oil so used chirrata sauce and didn't add sugar since chirrata is already sweet.
I added green onion cut thinly, and fresh steemed green beans cut in small pieces.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for sharing this review with substitutes! Glad it worked out well 🙂
Evylyn
Delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for sharing your positive review with me!
Dave
I had this at a local place and it was so good. So found your recipe and oh my, pretty much spot on flavors to what I had. Thanks
Christie Lai
This made me so happy to read! Glad it hit the spot and is restaurant quality 🙂
Katy
So good! Love the crunchiness of the cucumbers and the sauce just is perfect. For fun I tried Trader Joe’s Japanese multipurpose seasoning that has black and white sesame seeds, nori and kelp powder in, and it was also really great with these smashed cucumbers.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Katy! I'm so glad you enjoyed it with the seasoning as well!
Dale
Not just this recipe, but I think I am going to enjoy you. I was a prairie meat & potatoes guy (and miss meat so much) I have a young E.Indian lad living in my home (I cook-he manages my property). Some of their spices are too strong for me - I love curry's. As I grew up, it was Chinese, Italian, Greek, eventually Thai etc - Indian is great - just not every day. Nick will eat chicken (protein need) but I yearn for a ribeye - just don't want to cook two dinners. I think your Kung Pao Chicken with rice will suit us both, this as a side dish - sounds really good to me. I will follow your other dishes. Sorry for my entire history - HaHa!
Christie Lai
Haha thanks for your comment and for sharing! I hope you enjoy my recipes specifically this one which is a hit on the blog!
Rory
So good, and so simple! We tend to double the recipe, they are just that good!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe in the past and glad you love it so much! Have a wonderful day, Rory!
Ben
Incredibly flavourful and so easy to make! Thank you for this recipe Christie.
christieathome
Thanks for making my recipe! Glad you enjoyed it! ☺️
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your idea to add some heat and some sweet to raw cucumbers is so good. This is the perfect way to dress up cucumbers for the summer!