Skip to main content
Bon Appétit

Smashed Cucumber Salad

4.3

(36)

Smashed Cucumber Salad recipe
Photograph by Frank Frances, food styling by Lillian Chou, prop styling by Sophia Pappas

Growing up, Justin Lee, owner and chef of Fat Choy, enjoyed smashing cucumbers for this salad in a bag. “It was like a Chinese American kid’s version of Shake ‘n Bake,” he says. In the version he serves at the restaurant, Justin slices the cukes instead (though of course, you could smash and chop them if you want). Either way, it’s a refreshing saucy dish that’ll cool you down all through summer. 

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 Servings

Ingredients

6

medium Persian cucumbers (about 1 lb.)

1

tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt

1

garlic clove, finely grated

¼

cup tahini

3

Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1

Tbsp. soy sauce

1

Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar

1

Tbsp. white miso

1

tsp. finely grated ginger

1

tsp. sugar

1

tsp. toasted sesame oil

Chili oil (for serving)

2

scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal

1

tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise, then slice ¼" thick on a deep diagonal into 2"–3"-long pieces. Transfer cucumbers to a large bowl, add salt, and toss to combine. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. Drain cucumbers.

    Step 2

    Whisk garlic, tahini, lime juice, soy sauce, vinegar, miso, ginger, sugar, and sesame oil in a small bowl to combine. Pour dressing over cucumbers and toss well to coat.

    Step 3

    Transfer cucumber salad to a platter. Drizzle with chili oil and top with scallions and sesame seeds.

Explore Bon AppétitSaladCucumberVegetableEasyQuickSideVeganVegetarianDairy-Free
Sign In or Subscribe
to leave a Rating or Review

How would you rate Smashed Cucumber Salad?

Leave a Review

Reviews (36)

Back to Top

  • Tahini? No, that is not a chinese ingredient - you should use chinese sesame paste, very different from tahini. Shouldn't the author know this??

    • shailini sisodia

    • Boston ma

    • 8/29/2023

  • Dunno why people are ragging on about "smashed" vs sliced, given the recipe starts with 'Growing up, Justin Lee, owner and chef of Fat Choy, enjoyed smashing cucumbers for this salad in a bag. “It was like a Chinese American kid’s version of Shake ‘n Bake,” he says. In the version he serves at the restaurant, Justin slices the cukes instead (though of course, you could smash and chop them if you want). Either way, it’s a refreshing saucy dish that’ll cool you down all through summer.' -- but I do appreciate the commenter who briefed how to smash the cucumbers. I have all the ingredients - gonna try it today.

    • Schadenfreude

    • 8/25/2023

  • This was a big hit! It's a great side dish for any Chinese meal. Easy enough to make mostly ahead so you aren't juggling multiple dishes at once. I will salt the cucumbers earlier next time. They released a lot more water and made the dressing watery even when I drained and dressed them right before serving dinner. It was a little salty, too, and I think more salt would drain off with the water if I'd let them sit longer. This makes way too much dressing, just save it for later. I had it on a simple salad of romaine and cherry tomatoes and it was great. It reminds me of the sesame dressing you get in sushi restaurant salads.

    • ElCee

    • Toronto, Canada

    • 3/25/2022

  • This tasted great, I served it as an accompaniment to the "Crispy Pan Fried Shrimp with Cabbage Slaw and Gochujang Mayo" recipe (also delicious) and they went really well together. I only put the salted cucumbers into the fridge for an hour due to a lack of time but next time I'll leave them for 12 as the dressing did go a bit watery after a while given the cucumbers hadn't had a chance to dehydrate very much. I do wish the cucumbers were smashed though - I was looking forward to it!

    • Hansween

    • New Zealand

    • 12/21/2021

  • This is CUT cucumber salad. Why wax poetically about smashing them when the recipe instructs slicing? Stupid.

    • Donald

    • Los Angeles

    • 8/12/2021

  • This salad is so delicious it takes all the self control I have not to lick the plate! I love using my favorite Fly By Jing chili crunch oil on top.

    • Sarah Sulu

    • Grass Valley, CA

    • 6/22/2021

  • After reading the reviews of this recipe, particularly about "gloppy" dressing, I made some adjustments. The first adjustment I did, (which I know literally counter indicates the name of the recipe) was leave out the Tahini. I'm not a huge fan of Tahini and I didn' have any on hand. I did double the miso however. I also left out the sugar. Not having chili oil available I used chili paste which I mixed into the dressing. Since I was not "presenting" it, I mixed everything together. The result was a nice consistency for the dressing that coated everything perfectly. No glops. I also added some fresh cilantro which gave the dish a nice brightness enhancing all the other flavors. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

    • T.J.

    • San Francisco, CA

    • 6/5/2021