• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

China Sichuan Food

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Index
  • Sichuan
  • Subscribe
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Index
    • Sichuan
    • Subscribe
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Pantry

    Chinese Cucumber Salad--Smashed Version

    Last Modified: January 6, 2023 by Elaine| 47 Comments

    2.6K shares
    • Share on Facebook
    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    Chinese smashed cucumber salad with basic ingredients including salt, sugar, garlic, vinegar, sesame oil, and chili oil. It can be super delicious even with only 5 minutes of preparation. This is one of the most popular homemade cold dishes in China along the year.

    Chinese cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com
    Table of Contents
    • Unpickled version VS pickled version
    • Do I need to remove the skins?
    • Why smash the cucumber?
    • Instructions
    • 🧾Recipe

    Cucumbers are really great for summer. The excellent and crispy taste can help us against the hot weather. There are many cold dishes in China that are equal to salads in the western centuries but this smashed cucumber salad is always the best choice for either quick dishes or large dinners.

    Unpickled version VS pickled version

    Elaine has two ways of making easy Chinese cucumber salad: one is to smash it directly before mixing and the other one is to pickle the cucumber for around 15 minutes with salt to remove extra water content. The unpickled version is much quicker and delicious. While the pickled version gets a more crisper texture and is less fresh in taste. Smashed cucumber can absorb more sauce within the cucumber, resulting in a compound and uniform taste. However pickled cucumber salad has two layers of taste. The first is the combined sauce, which succeeded with a crispy and freshness from the cucumber slices.  I strongly recommend you try both ways if you love cucumber salad the same as me. 

    Chinese cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com

    Do I need to remove the skins?

    For the cucumber, pick fresh ones and just peel the thick skin off and remain thin skin, which can help to add some extra green color and also make the smashed cucumber crisper.  If you really do not like the skin, you can peel them all off. Do remember to cut the two ends off.  Or if you use organic small cucumber, keep the skins and just remove the two ends.

    Why smash the cucumber?

    One of the key tips for this Chinese-style cucumber salad is to smash the cucumber with a wide knife. Smashing will create enough space inside the cucumber, helping the flavors and sauce permeate.

    Instructions

    Step 1: Prepare Your Cucumber

    Wash the cucumber well and trim off the tough skins. For long Enough cucumber, peel off half of the skin and let the remaining add some green colors. Or if you are using organic small cucumber, peel only the skin around 5cm from the two ends. Then cut off the two ends.

    Step 2: Smash

    Put them onto a larger cutting board and get a wide knife, cut the cucumber lengthwise. Place skin side up and use your knife to smash the cucumber.

    Step 3: Cut them into smaller pieces
    Add the cucumber into small pieces and transfer to a serving bowl.

    Chinese cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com

    Step 4 - Add garlic

    chop garlic, finely chop the garlic and place them on top of the cucumber.

    Chinese cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com

    Step 5: Add the sauces.

    1. Basic sauce - salt, sugar (optional), and sesame oil.
    2. With light soy sauce and black vinegar
    3. With light soy sauce, black vinegar and chili oil
    Chinese cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com

    The light version with only sesame oil, salt, and sugar can be super fresh if you get high-quality fresh cucumber. Sugar is optional.

    Chinese cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com

    If you want to make this more savory and strong in flavor, add light soy sauce and black vinegar.

    Chinese cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com

    For a hot version, add chili oil to make this extremely delicious.

    Chinese cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com

    Other recommended Chinese-style salad for hot summer

    • wood ear mushroom salad--the spicy and sour version I love the most.
    • Bean thread noodles salad with carrots and spinach--a healthy vegan salad
    • Sichuan-style eggplant salad with fresh chilis

    🧾Recipe

    smashed cucumber salad|chinasichuanfood.com

    Chinese Cucumber Salad

    Elaine
    Chinese style smashed cucumber salad
    5 from 9 votes
    Print Recipe
    Prep Time 5 mins
    Cook Time 2 mins
    Total Time 7 mins
    Course Salad
    Cuisine Sichuan cuisine
    Servings 2
    Calories 113 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 fresh English cucumber , or two smaller ones, around 350g
    • 3 garlic cloves , mashed and then chopped
    • ¼ tsp. sugar , optional
    • salt to taste
    • 1 tbsp. sesame oil
    • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce , optional
    • 1 tsp. black vinegar , optional
    • 1 ~2 tsp. chili oil to taste , optional

    Instructions
     

    • For long English cucumber, wash the cucumber and peel off tough skins. For small cucumber, remove the two ends.
    • Smash with a wide kitchen knife (like Chinese slicing knife) until the cucumber is well crushed. Then cut into one bite pieces.
    • Transfer all cucumber cubes into a bowl. Mix well with mashed garlic, salt and sugar.
    • Or further add light soy sauce and vinegar to make a more strong version.
    • Or add chili oil for a hot version.

    Notes

    For very tender and young cucumber, you can keep most of the skins.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 113kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 417mgPotassium: 287mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 185IUVitamin C: 7.3mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 0.8mg
    Keyword Cucumber
    Tried this recipe?Mention @ChinaSichuanFood

    More Pantry

    • Salted Duck Egg
    • Szechuan Fish - Suan Cai Yu
    • Shui Zhu Mushrooms
    • Pan-Fried Black Pepper Chicken

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. GG

      February 08, 2022 at 1:49 am

      I made this today but added one piece scallion. It was very delicious. I saved the dressing to dip dumplings into at dinner in the evening. Thank you.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        February 15, 2022 at 9:37 am

        Thank you GG. Love to hear that. Happy cooking!

        Reply
    2. Ellen

      December 01, 2022 at 6:49 pm

      5 stars
      So good!

      Reply
      • Elaine

        December 01, 2022 at 8:15 pm

        You get it, Ellen. Happy cooking.

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi Welcome

    Hi welcome to my little corner where I sharing authentic and easy to follow Chinese recipes. Don't be limited by the site name. Know me more from About Page.

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Popular

    • Scallion Pancakes (Cong You Bing)
    • Mapo Tofu Recipe
    • How to Make Boba Pearls at Home -Tapioca Pearls
    • Twice Cooked Pork--Szechuan Pork Stir Fry
    • Red Braised Pork Belly —(HongShaoRou)
    • Pork and Mushroom Stir Fry

    Find Recipes

    Email List

    Subscribe Our Email list to get updates and recipes

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    • Privacy Policy. Disclaimer. About. Hot Pot cookbook

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 ChinaSichuanFood.com | All Rights Reserved