Crunchy, refreshing, and packed with flavors, this spicy Asian cucumber salad is the perfect summer side dish! It is easy to make and is ready in 20 minutes.

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I am currently in love with this spicy Asian cucumber salad! The chili oil dressing transforms the plain old cucumber into a refreshing and flavorful side dish that goes well with many dishes. In particular, I usually pair this salad with Asian-inspired mains like my peanut sauce rice noodles and vegetable fried rice.
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💚Why you will love this recipe
- Vibrant, crisp, and packed with flavors
- Quick and easy to make, this recipe is ready in 20 minutes!
- A great summer side that refrigerates well, making them great for meal prep
- Nutritious, healthy, and is a delicious way to enjoy cucumbers
🌶️What you will need
📃Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Cucumbers - It is highly recommended to use a seedless variety of cucumber, such as English cucumber, Persian cucumber, or Japanese cucumber.
- Soy sauce - Can be substituted with tamari or shoyu. Use a gluten-free brand if needed.
- Rice vinegar - Can be substituted with white vinegar. Chinese black vinegar will also work, but it will have a more robust and complex flavor.
- Chili oil - A chili-infused oil that is popular in Asian cooking. You can find it in most groceries, usually in the international section or your local Asian market. Alternatively, buy your chili oil online.
- Sugar - Any granulated sweetener, like cane sugar, table sugar, or brown sugar, will work. You can use sugar substitutes like erythritol too.
🔪How to make
Salt cucumbers by adding cucumbers and salt in a bowl and toss until the salt is well distributed. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then drain and rinse the cucumber thoroughly.
While cucumbers are salting, combine all the ingredients needed to make the dressing.
Pour dressing into cucumber slices and toss until cucumbers are well coated.
Serve immediately, or let it sit in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before digging in to allow the cucumbers to absorb the flavors.
✅Helpful tips
- Slice cucumbers any way you like - Other than slicing them into chunks, you can spiral-cut them, smash them (with a meat mallet or the flat side of the knife), or slice them diagonally.
- Sweating cucumbers - This step helps draw out some water from the cucumbers, producing a more flavorful salad as the dressing will be less watered down. This will also help cucumbers maintain their crunch.
- Rinse well after salting - Ensure that cucumber slices are well rinsed after sweating them to prevent your Asian cucumber salad from being too salty.
- Allowing salad to marinate - If you have time, let the salad sit in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before serving. This allows time for the cucumber slices to absorb the dressing, yielding a more flavorful salad.
- Adjusting the spice levels - This salad is mild to moderately spicy. Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes or gochugaru to bump up the heat. For a milder salad, get a mild chili oil.
❄️Storing suggestions
This spicy Asian cucumber salad can be refrigerated for 3-4 days. The cucumber slices will continue to release water as they sit but will still be flavorful as they absorb more of the dressing. I would not recommend refrigerating longer than 4 days as the cucumber might turn soggy.
Don't throw away the watered-down dressing! Instead, spoon them over rice and noodles as a flavorful sauce.
🍜Serving suggestions
Asian cucumber salad is a refreshing side dish that pairs well with many Asian dishes. Here are some of my go-tos-
Side dishes/appetizers - Serve cucumber salad alongside other sides, especially my tofu dumplings, rice paper egg rolls, or homemade wontons!
Noodles and rice - My favorites include tofu fried rice, fried rice vermicelli, and vegan japchae.
Protein mains - Especially Chinese mains like sweet and sour chicken or stir-fry beef and broccoli. For my vegan/vegetarian readers, you will want to check out my soy sauce tofu, teriyaki tofu, and vegan chop suey!
❔Commonly asked questions
You do not need to peel your cucumbers for salads, especially if using Japanese, English, or Persian cucumbers, as they have very thin peels. However, if you are using American cucumbers, you will want to peel them as their peels can be quite tough.
Salt your cucumbers before using them will yield a less watery salad. The salt will draw out excess moisture and give cucumbers some flavor.
You will need to rinse the cucumber thoroughly after salting to remove excess salt. This prevents your salad from getting too salty.
It is not recommended to freeze cucumber salad. Due to their high water content, they tend to turn mushy and lose their crispiness after freezing and thawing.
🥗More salad recipe
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📖 Recipe
Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 medium Japanese cucumber or English/Persian cucumber (around 450g/16oz)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari/shoyu
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon Chinese chili oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Add cucumber and salt in a bowl, and toss until the salt is well distributed. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then drain and rinse the cucumber thoroughly.
- In a bowl, combine all ingredients needed to make the dressing.
- Pour dressing into cucumber slices, and toss until cucumbers are well coated. Serve immediately, or let it sit in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before digging in to allow time for the cucumbers to absorb the flavors.
Notes
- Rinse well after salting - Ensure that cucumber slices are well rinsed after sweating them to prevent your Asian cucumber salad from being too salty.
- Allowing salad to marinate - If you have time, let the salad sit in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before serving. This allows time for the cucumber slices to absorb the dressing, yielding a more flavorful salad.
- Adjusting the spice levels - This salad is mild to moderately spicy. Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes or gochugaru to bump up the heat. For a milder salad, get a mild chili oil.
- Storing leftover salad - Leftover cucumber salad can be refrigerated for 3-4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition info calculated is just a rough estimate and is provided as a courtesy. Bear in mind that value will vary based on variables like specific brand or type of product used. To obtain the most accurate representation, it is highly recommended that you calculate it on your own with the actual amount and type of ingredient used.
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