Chinese Cucumber Salad
This crunchy sweet and sour Chinese Cucumber Salad with a hint of spiciness is a perfect side dish to increase your appetite. And don't forget to make yourself a refreshing cucumber drink with the leftover cucumber juice!
Equipment
- 2 Chopsticks
Ingredients
- 1 large cucumber (or 4-6 mini cucumbers)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 garlic cloves (chopped) (about 1 tbsp of chopped garlic)
- ½ tsp dried chili pepper (break into small pieces) (Can use red pepper flakes or chili oil as a substitute. Skip if you don't like spicy food.)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp rice vinegar
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Rinse a cucumber and pat dry. Peel off a lengthwise strip of one side, turn the cucumber upside down, then peel off a lengthwise strip of the other side, as seen in the photo above. In this way we have created a flat bottom on both side, which makes it easier and safer to cut slices.
- Place the cucumber on a cutting board, with one peeled surface facing down and the other peeled surface facing up. Place one chopstick on each side of the cucumber lengthwise.
- Cut the cucumber into 2mm thick slices (a quarter dollar is 1.75 mm thick) from one end to the other, cutting down to the chopstick so that you do not cut through the cucumber.
- Turn the cucumber upside down. Slice the cucumber with a 45° angle to the center line, cut the cucumber into 2mm thick slices from one end to the other without cutting it through (with the help of chopsticks.)
- Place sliced cucumber in a bowl. Add 3 tbsps of sugar to the cucumber. Toss or stir to coat the cucumber evenly with the sugar. Cover with food wrap. Let sit for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- 1 hour later, drain the cucumber juice. You can use the sweet cucumber juice to DIY a cucumber drink (see Note 1).
- Add chopped garlic, dried chili pepper, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and salt over the cucumber and mix well.
- Cover with food wrap. Let sit for at least 20 minutes (ideally overnight) in the refrigerator.
- Serve chilled as a side dish. Great with classic Chinese rice porridge (congee).
Video
Notes
Note 1: Draining the cucumber gives you some sweet and fresh cucumber juice. You can use the juice to flavor your water, make a sparkling cucumber drink, or DIY a cucumber cocktail. In this video, I made a quick refreshing drink with 2 tbsp of cucumber juice, a glass of ice, sparkling water, and a splash of sake (Japanese wine).
