Name: Asian Cucumber Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 large cucumbers; 3 tablespoons rice vinegar; 1 tablespoon sugar; 2 teaspoons salt; 2 cloves garlic ((minced)); 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds ((optional)); 1 tablespoon chopped peanuts ((optional)); 1 tablespoon chili oil with crisps ((optional)); 1 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) ((optional)); 1 tablespoon sliced scallions ((optional)); 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro ((optional))

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Asian cucumber salad is my favorite cucumber dish by far. It's crisp and refreshing and incredibly easy to make. My mom used to make it all the time for us growing up. It only takes 15 minutes and is one of my favorite side dishes to make when I'm low on time.

Asian cucumber salads have four main flavor components: sour, sweet, salty, and spicy. The most important part is being sour. My mom used to use Chinese black vinegar for the acid, but I actually prefer the cleaner taste of rice wine vinegar. But you can use whatever vinegar you want.

How to smash the cucumber

The best tip I can give for cucumber salad is to smash the cucumber. This will create a lot of crevices in the flesh which will soak up the sauce better. To do so, loosely wrap the cucumber in plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to smash it. You want to smash the cucumber hard enough that the sides split open.

close up of smashed cucumber with sides split open.

How to add extra texture

In my opinion, the best cucumber salads have a bit of extra texture as well. My favorite ways to add texture are by adding black sesame seeds, chopped nuts, chili crisps, or Korean dried chili flakes (gochugaru). Korean dried chili flakes are not very spicy compared to regular chili flakes so you can add a lot of them without it feeling too spicy. But today, I did not use any chili flakes or chili crisps because my father-in-law cannot eat spicy food.

Four separate bowls containing chopped peanuts, chili crisps, gochugaru, and sesame seeds.

Combine the cucumbers and sauce at the table

I highly recommend combining the cucumbers and sauce as close to the serving time as possible. I usually bring both components to the table and combine them when everyone is ready to eat. The reason is because cucumber salad goes mushy quite fast once the sauce is added. This is because the salt starts breaking down the cucumber immediately.

Asian Cucumber Salad

This is an extremely easy side dish you can make with cucumbers. There are a lot of variations so I'm giving you a basic recipe and a list of optional ingredients you can add for extra texture, spice, and flavor.

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Prep Time 15

Total Time 15

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Chinese

Servings people

Ingredients

Basic Recipe

2 large cucumbers
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cloves garlic (minced)

For extra texture

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped peanuts (optional)

For extra spice

1 tablespoon chili oil with crisps (optional)
1 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) (optional)

For extra flavor

1 tablespoon sliced scallions (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)

Instructions

Loosely wrap the cucumber in plastic wrap and place on a sturdy cutting board. Use a rolling pin to smash the cucumber until the sides split open.
Remove the plastic wrap and chop the cucumber into 1-inch chunks. Transfer to a bowl.
In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and garlic. Add any of the optional ingredients for extra texture, spice, and flavor. Today, I'm adding peanuts, sesame seeds, chili crisps, gochugaru, and cilantro.
Right before serving, add the sauce to the cucumbers and mix well. You do not want to combine the cucumbers and sauce in advance as the cucumbers start to go soft as soon as the sauce gets added in.

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