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–+ servings

Chinese Smashed Cucumber Salad

Refreshing, crunchy cucumbers marinated in a garlicky, savory sauce make the best side dish for summertime or year round! The Chinese technique for smashing the cucumbers creates rough, ragged edges that make the sauce easily stick onto the cucumbers for the most flavor-packed bites.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Asian, Chinese
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 6 large Persian cucumbers
  • 1/4 tsp sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Sauce:

  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2-3 tbsp rice vinegar to your sourness preference
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp chili oil optional
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • tiny sprinkle of salt

Garnish:

  • toasted sesame seeds
  • cilantro
  • 1/4 cup raw or roasted peanuts optional

Instructions
 

Prepare the cucumbers

  • Wash and slice the ends off the Persian cucumbers.
    6 large Persian cucumbers
  • With the side of your knife, lightly smash each cucumber a few times until they break open. With your knife at a 45 degree angle, slice the cucumbers into ~2 inch pieces. The ragged edges from smashing them allow the cucumbers to hold on to the sauce well.
  • Place the sliced cucumbers into a bowl, then season with salt and sugar. Mix evenly to coat all the slices. This will both season and draw out moisture from the cucumbers, making them extra crunchy.
    1/8 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar
  • Place them into your fridge while you prepare everything else to keep them extra cold and refreshing.

Make the roasted peanuts (optional)

  • If you’re using raw peanuts (instead of store-bought), add them in a pan over low-medium heat with 1 tsp neutral oil and a sprinkle of salt, moving occasionally. The peanuts are done when they turn from a pale brown to a toasty, darker color, or about 5-8 minutes. Let cool.
    1/4 cup raw or roasted peanuts

Make the sauce and assemble

  • Mince the garlic.
    3 cloves garlic
  • In a bowl, mix together all the sauce ingredients. Taste and adjust to your preference; this is also important because different brands of rice vinegar will sometimes vary in level of sourness. There should be a good balance of salty, acidic, sweet, spicy, and nutty flavors (from sesame oil). I prefer mine on the sour side so I like the extra tbsp of rice vinegar!
    3 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2-3 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp chili oil, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, tiny sprinkle of salt
  • After 20 min in the fridge (you can also leave it longer if prepping ahead of time), drain the liquid from the cucumbers.
  • Just before serving, add the sauce, chopped cilantro, sesame seeds, and roasted peanuts (if using).
    toasted sesame seeds , cilantro

Storage

  • If you have any leftover, I recommend separately storing the sauce and the cucumbers in the fridge. This is because the cucumbers will continuing drawing out moisture which will dilute the sauce.
Keyword chinese cucumber salad, chinese smashed cucumber salad
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