This quick and easy spicy smashed cucumber salad is ready in 5 minutes. No marinating required, only 3 ingredients. It tastes slightly spicy, sweet, tangy and full of garlic and soy sauce flavor. It’s so refreshing that it’s the best side dish for dinner or with a cold beer.
Ann’s tips for this recipe
This recipe is the same as that of Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad. Except that Din Tai Fung uses chili oil, while I use fresh red chilies for seasoning. The tip to make this spicy cucumber salad ready to eat without marinating is to smash the cucumber instead of cutting it with a knife. This allows the cucumber to best absorb the sauce and become tasty in a short time. It tastes best when you marinate it for at least an hour.
Ingredients
It consists of cucumbers, fresh red chilies, garlic, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and sesame oil. If you don’t like it so spicy, you can use long red chilies. You can cut the chilies in half and remove the chili seeds or soak them in hot water after you cut them. With these two methods, you can reduce the spiciness of the red chilies, but you’ll still get the chili flavor.
How to make:
- Wrap the cucumbers in plastic wrap or a zip bag, then smash them with a rolling pin or bottle to keep the cucumbers from spilling out.
- Cut off the head and tail of the cucumber, dissect the cucumber with your hand into an irregular shape, and remove the middle part (seeds) of the cucumber. It consists mainly of water. Put the cucumbers in a glass or plastic container.
- Chopped garlic and add it to the container. Slice the red chile and remove the chile seeds. Add them to the container.
- Add salt, sugar, and soy sauce to the container. Close the lid and shake all the ingredients well. Let it sit for at least an hour. Before serving, add sesame oil and shake well.
- Add sesame seeds, sliced green onion and cilantro on the top. Ready to serve.
What goes well with spicy cucumber:
Pulled Pork Fried Rice
The Best Easy Gyoza
Baked Pork Chops and Rice
Chicken Chow Mein
Watch how to make:
Ingredients
- 4 cucumbers
- 4 garlic ,chopped
- 1 fresh red chili pepper ,sliced
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Wrap the cucumbers in plastic wrap or a zip bag, then smash them with a rolling pin or bottle to keep the cucumbers from spilling out. (Note 1)
- Cut off the head and tail of the cucumber, dissect the cucumber with your hand into an irregular shape, and remove the middle part (seeds) of the cucumber. It consists mainly of water. Put the cucumbers in a glass or plastic container. (Note 2)
- Chopped garlic and add it to the container. Slice the red chile and remove the chile seeds. Add them to the container. (Note 3)
- Add salt, sugar, and soy sauce to the container. Close the lid and shake all the ingredients well. Let it sit for at least an hour. Before serving, add sesame oil and shake well.
- Add sesame seeds, sliced green onion and cilantro on the top. Ready to serve.
Tips & Notes:
- The cucumber should be mashed rather than cut with a knife. This allows the cucumber to best absorb the sauce and become tasty in a short time.
- In this way, the cucumber becomes less flavorful because the sauce is diluted by the cucumber water.
- If you like the spiciness, you don’t have to remove the chili seeds. If you just want the chile flavor and not the spiciness. Another way to reduce the heat of red chilies is to soak them in hot water after you slice them and remove the seeds.
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