Chinese Cucumber Salad Recipe

Share this:

Chinese Cooking Basics

spicy Cucumber salad

This is a salad I absolutely love and order very frequently when I’m out at a Chinese restaurant. It’s crunchy, tart, savoury, aromatic and slightly spicy. 

It goes well on its own as a snack, or it pairs well with heavier dishes that can benefit from the cucumbers cutting through the fat.

The best part, it’s really simple to make. All you need is a few ingredients and you can whip this up within  5 – 10min. 

Chinese Cucumber Salad

INGREDIENTS

Serves 3 – 4

3 Salad cucumbers (alternatively any cucumber would do as well if you peel the skin off)
2/3 teaspoon of salt
2 big cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of Chinese vinegar (Chinkiang vinegar)
1 tablespoon Chili oil (Lao Gan Ma) 
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of regular soy sauce
1 teaspoon of sesame oil 

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash your cucumbers clean to get rid of any dirt and residue pesticides. Then use the blade of a knife to smack the cucumbers lightly until they slightly break. 

2. Cut your cucumbers into thick slices diagonally and place them into a bowl with your salt and mix around. Let it sit for 5min to allow the salt draw out excess moisture from the cucumbers. Tip: if you don’t have salad cucumbers, remember to peel the skin of and deseed them using a spoon before smacking and cutting.  

3. As you wait, smash 2 large garlic cloves – smashing not chopping or mincing to ensure the oils come out and get a nice garlicky flavour to your salad. 

4. Once ready, drain your cucumbers of excess liquid and place your garlic, black vinegar, chilli oil, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar in. Mix well and serve!

Janice Fung

Janice Fung

More Posts

Comments are closed.

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn more about our Privacy Policy from the link in the footer.