This spicy Asian cucumber salad recipe is everything you need in late summer: a no-cook, crunchy cucumber salad with fresh herbs, sesame oil, and the perfect amount of chili heat. Ready in under 15 minutes, this cucumber salad is great side for grilled meats like chicken, steak, kabobs, or shrimp skewers.
Meet This Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad Recipe
July and August mean finding great snacks, sides, and mains that do not require much cooking — and ideally, none. This Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad is a spin on traditional Chinese smashed cucumber salad.
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Here, lightly-salted cucumbers get tossed with a little oil and vinegar, salt, hot pepper, fresh scallions, cilantro, and some sesame seeds. Toss together, and you have your new favorite summer side dish in less than 15 minutes.
And for more good cucumber recipes, I definitely suggest English cucumber sandwiches, and this bright cucumber, tomato, and halloumi salad.
Why You Should Make Asian Cucumber Salad
We often relegate cucumbers to the underrated, take-for-granted department (see also: celery). But a great cucumber tastes crisp and refreshing and has lots of nutritional value. Cucumbers are native to India, and have been cultivated for over 3,000 years, including in ancient Egypt and throughout the Roman Empire.
This cucumber salad recipe makes a crunchy, nourishing vegan side dish with flavors from salt, cilantro, scallions, sesame, and hot red pepper flakes. This recipe is so good because:
- It’s ready in under 15 minutes
- Tastes fresh with scallions and cilantro, zesty, salty, and has the perfect amount of spice
- It’s light, healthful, and vegan
- Will keep overnight in the refrigerator if you want to make it in advance
Homemade refrigerator dill pickles are another great way to enjoy cucumbers, mild or spicy.
Ingredient Notes: Asian Cucumber Salad
It’s ok to eliminate the cilantro. And the hot pepper.
It’s not your fault if you’re a “cilantro tastes like soap” person. But you may want to add a little extra scallion instead. And this tastes plenty delicious without the hot pepper, and makes a more kid-friendly option.
Salt your cucumbers!
This is an important first step to any great cucumber salad recipe for two reasons. First, salting the cucumbers adds flavor. Second, salting draws out some of the moisture and actually makes the cucumbers even crunchier. To do this, toss your broken cucumbers in a generous tablespoon of salt, then let them drain for about 15 minutes in a colander. Then pat them with a few paper towels. No need to rinse.
Choose the right type of cucumber.
Seek out small Persian cucumbers or English hothouse cucumbers — the long ones that are inevitably shrink-wrapped in plastic. These have a more concentrated flavor than the large, “regular” ones. And they have much thinner skin, so you do not have to peel them. This saves time, and also offers a great color contrast.
Are Cucumbers Healthy? (+ More Fun Facts)
Some fun cucumber facts you didn’t know you always needed:
- Cucumbers are a gourd, in the same group as zucchini and squash. Note the family resemblance.
- The largest cuke ever was over five feet long and weighed 154 pounds
- The inside of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees cooler than the inside. Hence, the expression “cool as a cucumber.”
- Despite being 96% water, cucumbers also contain lots of healthy nutrients, like magnesium, potassium, and vitamins C and K.
How to Serve this Spicy Cucumber Salad Recipe
This Asian Cucumber Salad is best served immediately, but will still taste good the next day, though the cucumbers will continue to release water overnight. Just drain the excess liquid, give it a toss, and re-season as needed.
This makes a great summer side dish to grilled fish or meat like these chicken kabobs. Cucumber salad goes very well with white rice as well. This cilantro lime rice recipe makes a particularly good complement to this cuke salad.
Love this cool cucumber salad? You’ll also enjoy:
Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 24 ounces thin-skinned cucumbers (such as English hothouse cucumbers or small Persian cucumbers)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste (I use Diamond Crystal; Morton's is quite salty)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/4 cup loosely-packed cilantro, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 2 scallions, sliced very thin
Instructions
- Trim the ends off the cucumbers. Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise, then slice each half again lengthwise if they are thick to create long sticks. Break the cucumber sticks into pieces about 1 to 1 1/2" in length, more or less.
- Place the cucumber pieces in a colander. Salt with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Toss and let stand for 15 minutes over a bowl. After 15 minutes, pat the cucumbers with paper towels to remove the excess water.
- While the cucumbers are salting, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, vegetable oil, and sesame oil and whisk. Stir in the cilantro, sesame seeds, and scallions, reserving a little of each for garnish.
- Place the salted, drained cucumbers in a bowl. Toss with the dressing and taste for seasoning. You may need a touch more salt. Garnish with the reserved cilantro and sliced scallions, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
5 comments
H.J.
very good with good flavor. Had to drain excess moisture the next day, but I think that’s because the salt kept taking moisture out of the cucumbers. It was excellent.
louise ceccarelli
our new favorite Cucumber recipe. Made it several times. It is a great mixture of flavors. Louise
Unpeeled
Thanks so much, Louise! I’m so glad you like it. xoxo
Allison
I was happy to see this recipe because I often get smashed cucumber salad at Chinese restaurants when it is on the menu, and I really like it. This tasted like that, but I thought the addition of the cilantro and scallions was very good. I will make this again this summer. My garden cucumbers are just coming in!
J.B.
This is great.I loved breaking the cucumbers and the dish came out crunchy and better than takeout!!!