Name: Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 lb cucumber; ¼ tsp salt; 1 tbsp sesame oil; 3 cloves garlic (minced); 2 tbsp rice vinegar; 1.5 tbsp soy sauce; 1.5 tsp sugar

Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad is the perfect summertime dish, keeping you cool as a cucumber. With a light zingy dressing, it's so refreshing!

Chinese Smashed Cucumber salad served with aside of dressing.

When I think of this Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad, I think of cold crisp cucumbers dressed in a light, tangy vinaigrette, accented with loads of garlic and finished with sesame oil.

It's so refreshing, especially on a warm summer day. Now, you may be thinking, is it really necessary to smash the cucumbers? The short answer is: absolutely! Let me explain.

Why Smash Cucumbers?

In Asian cuisine, texture is a very important element to every dish, just as important as the flavor.

I've tried this Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad recipe by slicing the cucumbers instead of smashing them. It still tastes good but it's not quite the same. Texture makes a world of difference.

Aside from the added texture, smashing cucumbers creates irregular surfaces with a lot of broken cell walls. This creates loads of nooks and crannies for all the garlic and zesty dressing to cling onto.

Can I Use Any Type of Cucumber for Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad?

The best varieties of cucumbers to use are ones with thin skin and small and/or minimal seeds. In this Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad recipe, I used Japanese cucumbers which definitely fits the bill.

Japanese cucumbers are long and thin with very few seeds. They have thin, edible skin and have a crunchy texture with a mild sweetness. They're perfect for this Smashed Cucumber Salad recipe.

Other cucumbers that are ideal include English cucumbers and Persian cucumbers.

English cucumbers, also known as Hothouse cucumbers, are the ones you find often wrapped in plastic. They're long and also have thin skin.

English cucumbers are refreshing, have a great crunch with minimal bitterness. Their centers have tiny seeds that are nearly undetectable. This makes English cucumbers another good candidate for Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad.

Persian cucumbers are also great in this recipe. They're much shorter in length, about half the length of a Japanese cucumber.

Persian cucumbers are also slim and thin-skinned with very few seeds. They're sweet with a crispy texture and contain no bitterness.

I actually use Persian cucumbers the most in this Smashed Cucumber Salad recipe because they're plentiful in the summertime in my area and they're so delicious!

How to Prep the Cucumbers

Cucumbers comprise mostly of water and without prepping them beforehand, your Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad will turn watery and the dressing will become diluted. You can avoid all this with a little prep.

Wash and dry your cucumbers and trim off the ends. Smash the cucumbers by resting the blade of your knife against the cucumber and give the blade a firm whack.

Continue along the length of the cucumber until it flattens then cut into 2 inch lengths. If there are any large pieces remaining, break them apart with your hands.

Transfer the cucumbers to a colander with a bowl underneath. The bowl serves to catch excess liquid as the cucumbers sweat.

Sprinkle salt over the cucumbers and give them a stir to mix. Let it rest for 15 minutes and stir periodically.

After 15 minutes, you'll notice quite a bit of liquid was released from the cucumbers. That's water that would've ended up in your Smashed Cucumber Salad without this crucial step.

Give the cucumbers a few shakes in the colander and transfer to a large bowl. Your cucumbers are now ready for dressing!

But note: only dress the cucumbers when you're ready to eat them. They're best consumed immediately.

How to Make Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad

1) Rinse and dry the cucumbers then cut and discard the ends.

Smashing cucumbers with the side of a knife,

2) Smash the cucumbers with the blade of your knife then cut into 2" segments.

3) Transfer the cucumbers to a colander with a bowl underneath. Break apart larger pieces by hand.

4) Lightly sprinkle cucumbers with salt and allow it to sit for 15 minutes to draw out excess liquid.

5) Combine all the dressing ingredients (garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar) in a small bowl and mix until the sugar is fully dissolved.

6) Transfer cucumbers to a bowl. Pour in the dressing, along with a drizzle of sesame oil and toss. Top with sesame seeds and cilantro.

Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad tastes best as soon as it's dressed. When it sits too long in the dressing, the cucumbers begin to soften and loses its lovely crunchy texture.

So dress the cucumbers immediately prior to serving. It goes without saying that having leftovers is not ideal. Not that you would have any with this delicious recipe!