Smashed Cucumber Salad – Chinese Recipe with Garlic and Chili
You would think nothing could be simpler than a summer cucumber salad. Not quite, once you bring a little imagination to it. Chinese cucumber salad, or smashed cucumbers, is a remarkable dish whose preparation breaks the usual rules. It is simple, unusual and very tasty, and the recipe is traditional and easy to repeat. There are just three main components – cucumbers, garlic and chili – plus a light dressing made from everyday ingredients.
Among all the street food in Chinese cities, cucumbers and simple mixes built around them are considered a rescue from the heat and a perfect finish to a hot lunch. Its name, 涼拌黃瓜, literally means cold cucumber salad, and you will also come across the name 拍黄瓜 – smashed cucumbers. It is a kind of substitute for Western iced tea. The main and most important difference of Chinese cucumber salad is the way the cucumbers are prepared and cut.
In China this salad is made from fairly large pieces. The cucumbers are flattened with a Chinese chef's knife and then cut up. You get shapeless chunks – the base of the cucumber salad. When the cucumbers are flattened, the skin cracks, the seeds come loose and the juice starts to run. What's more, to my surprise, a delicate smell of fresh cucumbers spreads through the whole kitchen.
This is a fairly spicy dish and it can be made hot with fresh chili, although chili is not always used. Quite often a pinch of coarsely ground dried hot pepper goes in instead. It does not give the dish the same heat as fresh pepper. The amount of garlic varies very widely, although most people value Chinese cucumber salad precisely for its garlicky taste.
Since the vegetable varieties here and in China are completely different, look for small young cucumbers with thin, bumpy skin, the kind you would pick for lightly salted cucumbers. They are very juicy and have a wonderful aroma. Besides, their bright green colour does a lot for the look of the dish.
It takes only 5-10 minutes to make, but the salad reaches its full flavour after chilling. It can be an appetizer or a side dish for fried or stewed meat. But it is best served as an appetizer. The salad is amazingly good with brined cheese and fresh bread. Thanks to my daughter Yulia for the recipe and the help.
Ingredients
4-6 servings
- Young cucumbers 1 kg
- Hot red pepper 1
- Garlic 1-2 heads
- Wine or rice vinegar 1-2 tsp
- Soy sauce 2 tsp
- Brown sugar 1 tsp
- Sesame oil 1 tbsp
- Salt to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- The dish calls for young, bright green cucumbers with thin skin. Then there is no need to peel them, and the smashed cucumbers will turn out bright and juicy. Wash the cucumbers thoroughly, taking special care to rub off the greyish bloom. Wipe the cucumbers dry. You can add more or less hot red pepper, depending on how hot it is and how you like it. Garlic is to taste. I bought very small heads, so I used two of them for the salad – go by what you have.
- Be sure to wipe the washed cucumbers dry. Cut off the ends. An important point: the cucumbers should be broken up roughly – this gives the pieces a particular texture, increases the surface in contact with the sauce and greatly improves the taste. You will need a cutting board and a chef's knife that looks like a kitchen cleaver. Lay a cucumber on the board and press down on it hard with the whole blade. The aim is to flatten it so that the surface cracks, the seeds come out and the juice appears.
- With the same knife, cut the smashed cucumbers crosswise at 1-1.5 cm intervals. Transfer the pieces to a bowl. Do the same with all the cucumbers. One kilogram of cucumbers is enough for 4-6 servings, so judge by the amount you have when to stop. Salt the salad and mix.
- Peel and chop the garlic. Alternatively, you can grate the cloves or put them through a press – Chinese cucumber salad is exactly the kind of dish where garlic juice is only welcome. Clean the hot pepper and chop it finely with a knife. Add the garlic and pepper to the cucumbers. Add 1 tsp of brown sugar, 1-2 tsp of rice or wine vinegar and 2 tsp of light soy sauce, and mix.
- Next, once the sugar and salt have dissolved, add the oil – 1 tbsp will be enough. Sesame oil is used most often, as it gives a distinctive aroma. Mix once more. The salad can now be served. But it will taste best if you put it in the fridge for at least half an hour, or better still for 1-2 hours.
- As it chills and rests, the cucumber salad becomes especially tasty and picks up notes of lightly salted cucumber – a taste you cannot mistake for anything else. The salad comes out moderately hot, despite the generous amount of chili, with a pleasant garlicky flavour.
- Before serving, mix the salad once more, then divide it among small salad bowls or rice bowls. Pour over the sauce left in the mixing bowl. You can eat Chinese salad with chopsticks, a fork or a small spoon – whichever suits you.
| Yield: | 4-6 servings |
| Calories: | 35 |
| Prep: | 5 mins |
| Cooking: | 10 mins |
| Ready in: | 15 mins (not counting chilling) |
| Category: | Salads |
| Cuisine: | Chinese cuisine |
| Rating: |
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4.4
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