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I love cucumber, it’s so light, fresh and healthy. However, cucumber by itself doesn’t have much of a flavor.
Other Recipes You Might Like
One of my favorite recipes for cucumber is Asian cucumber salad, which is packed full of flavors and utterly delicious.
The key to making a great Asian cucumber salad lies in the dressing. My recipe is garlicky, spicy, savory, with just a touch of sweetness and tartness. The cucumber is crunchy so every bite is bursting with flavors.
Chill the cucumber in the refrigerator for the best results. Asian cucumber salad is a great appetizer, which help to stimulate a healthy appetite. Try my recipe and I am sure you will like it.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 95 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Asian Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber (about 8 oz. (226 g))
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon Korean chili powder or regular chili powder
- 1 teaspoon chili oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- sesame seeds for garnishing
Instructions
- Rinse the cucumber thoroughly and slice it into pieces. Add the salt to the cucumber, stir gently to combine well. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Combine the garlic, vinegar, sugar, chili powder, chili oil, and sesame oil together, stir to mix well. Make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Drain the salt water from the cucumber. Add the dressing to the cucumber, toss well. Top with sesame seeds and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I have made it multiple times and I like it best worth a bit of added cayenne.
Nice!😊
Sounds interesting, definitely will try in the future.
This recipe is so yummy- everyone who tries it loves it! I didn’t have chili oil, so I just added in some red pepper flakes with olive oil. I was thinking it would be like a vinaigrette but the texture it was more of a paste. I made it a few hours ahead of time and kept it cool. Thanks for the great recipe.
Awesome!😊
Do you toast the garlic or leave it raw?
Raw
So glad to get this recipe,I ate this salad at the Asian restaurant and fell in love with it.I didn’t know how to make it.Thanks for sharing, I will make it this weekend.Can I use other viniger since apple cider is hard to get here. Primrose Primrose
Yes you can.
Do you drain the salt from the cucumber with water? Or just flip it over?!
Drain.
This was delicious! Definitely can’t skip the salt or chili oil. I initially forgot the chili oil and immediately knew something was missing.
Awesome glad you tried my recipe!
Very good recipe. I made a double batch.
Awesome thanks!
This has got to be the best cucumber salad I’ve ever made!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe Bee!
Nice!😊
AHHHHmazing recipe! I didn’t have the chili oil so I used a Chili Onion Crunch instead which had an oil in it. I’m supposed to bring this to a BBQ today but looks like I’m gonna go to the store and get a tub of potato salad instead lol.
I might add that the combo of hot and sweet is AWEsome! I used Armenian Cucumbers and I didn’t do the salt thing.
must you add the sugar? less possibly?
You can adjust to your liking.
How do I rate this? I would give this a 5 star. Simply delicious and so easy to make. Made with my homegrown cucumbers for lunch today to go with Bibimap. Outstanding! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Yummy. Homegrown sounds 100!!
I would ditch the sugar entirely. Might be good to replace the salt with soy sauce.
Salt draws the water away from the cucumber so the sauce sticks
I have a question. Will this salad keep in the fridge and be fresh to serve after a couple of days?
I won’t keep it for a couple of days, eat fresh.
Can I still make this work without the chili and sesame oils?
You can skip but won’t be as good.
I have kept mine 2-3 days. The salt bath actually keeps the cucumbers crisp. It does taste a little more spicy after a day but still good.