Spicy Smacked Cucumber Salad. Refreshing cucumber marinated in a delicious spicy garlic soy-based sauce. A tasty side dish ready in 10 minutes!
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What is Spicy Smacked Cucumber Salad?
Spicy Smacked Cucumber Salad features crunchy cucumbers marinated in a garlic savoury and sweet sauce with a hint of nuttiness from the sesame oil and a spicy kick from the Chinese chili oil. This concoction makes my Chinese spicy cucumber salad a winner! A great vegan Chinese vegetable side dish that you can pair with steamed rice, and protein. This smacked cucumber salad recipe is quick and easy to make with minimal ingredients.
This side dish is common way to eat cucumbers in Asia and there are many different variations of it from garlicky to sweet. But I want to make mine spicy since I had a lot of homemade Sichuan chili oil left that I needed to use up. You can of course use store bought chili oil or try my homemade Chinese Chili Oil.
Why my recipe?
- It’s packed with umami, sweet, savoury and spicy flavour
- Easy to make
- Made in less than 10 minutes
- Only 8 ingredients!
- Addictive and delicious!
- You can omit the spice to make this not spicy
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- mini cucumbers
- salt
Sauce:
- regular soy sauce: not dark soy sauce
- sesame oil
- Chinese black vinegar: or sub with rice vinegar
- sesame seeds
- white granulated sugar
- garlic
- Chinese Chili oil, store bought or check out my recipe for a homemade version here
How to make Smacked Cucumber Salad
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.
On an angle, slice cucumbers into long diagonal strips.
Transfer to a bowl. Add salt and massage. Allow cucumbers to sit in salt for 5 minutes (or ideally 10 minutes) to draw out excess liquids. Discard liquid.
Rinse cucumbers under cold water to remove excess salt, to prevent it from competing with sauce.
Strain the rinsed cucumbers.
Season with sauce ingredients and mix well. Enjoy!
Storage
This dish lasts up to 2 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Expert Tips
Source fresh cucumbers
If you use older cucumbers, you’ll definitely taste that they’re not fresh and almost slightly bitter.
Smack that cucumber
Smack hard a few times with the side of a knife until the center of the cucumbers are broken down. This helps the cucumber absorb the seasoning better.
Do not skip salting cucumbers
This step is crucial to crunchier cucumbers. By allowing them to sit in the salt, this forces some of the water content out of the cucumber to make them crunchier in texture.
Strain any excess liquids
Strain out all the liquids as best as possible, so it does not interfere with the seasoning.
Rinse the cucumbers of the salt
Since our seasoning contains salt, rinsing the cucumbers off under cold water helps to remove any excess salt that may compete with the sauce.
FAQ
Can I omit the spice?
Yes! Just remove the chili oil and it’ll taste just as delicious!
Can I use normal cucumbers?
Yes! Feel free to use long seedless cucumber for this recipe.
Can I use store bought chili oil?
Of course, but I would 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.
How hard do I need to smack the cucumber?
Pretty hard and hard enough to split it. Please watch my video to see how hard you would need to smack it.
Other recipes you may like!
- Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad
- Korean Cucumber Salad
- Dill Cucumber Toast
- Japanese Crab Corn Salad
- Korean Potato Salad
- Watermelon Basil Salad
Or check It's Not Complicated Recipes' Spicy Cucumber Pickles! She's my friend and she shares easy delicious no fuss recipes!
📖 Recipe
10-min. Easy Spicy Smacked Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 6 mini cucumbers
- ½ teaspoon salt to drain water
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce (not dark soy sauce)
- 1.5 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar *can be omitted if you prefer not spicy
- ½ tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Chinese Chili oil store bought or homemade version here
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.
- On an angle, slice cucumbers into long diagonal strips.
- Transfer to a bowl. Add salt and massage. Allow cucumbers to sit in salt for 5 minutes (or ideally 10 minutes) to draw out excess liquids. Discard liquid.
- Rinse cucumbers under cold water to remove excess salt, to prevent it from competing with sauce.
- Strain the rinsed cucumbers.
- Season with sauce ingredients and mix well. Enjoy!
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!