Cucumbers are generally considered healthy – low in calories, and many vitamins and minerals. If you like, you can simply nibble on a cucumber or prepare a salad with it. In Germany, however, cucumber salad is often »murdered« with heavy cream, which quickly cancels out the healthy aspects of cucumbers ;P I prefer the Asian version – a delicious (Spicy) Smashed Cucumber Salad – without cream, fewer calories and super delicious ;)
In Germany, there are of course regional differences in how to prepare cucumber salad. At home, we had two different versions – the creamy one with dill and heavy cream and a »lighter« version with vinegar, oil, and sugar. I haven’t made either of these versions in ages, to be honest. Right now (in our home) cucumbers are mostly served in combination with tomatoes in a Greek salad or like this salad here – smashed with a nice spiciness. Both are so good ;)
Did you know that a serving of 3.5 oz. (100g) of cucumber contains only about 12 calories? This definitely makes this vegetable one of the lower-calorie foods we have. Some even claim that cucumbers have somewhat »negative calories«, because they only have a few calories per serving digesting them supposedly requires more energy… I don’t know if I would trust this statement though ;P Cucumbers are definitely low in calories and great for a healthy diet – there is no doubt about that ;)
Anyway. This delicious cucumber salad here originates in China and is very popular all over Asia, well… and the rest of the world I guess. It is super easy to prepare and does not need a lot of time to be ready to eat. You have to add some time for »dehydrating« the cucumber, though. Not sure if that is the right way to describe it. You have to get rid of some of the water that’s inside the cucumber ;P
German cucumber salad recipes often require the cucumber to be peeled – here you don’t have to do that. Peel on! Just wash and dry the cucumber well, cut off the ends (those parts are often a bit bitter), cut the cucumber in half, and then cut each piece in half horizontally. After that you are good to go and let out some anger ;P As the name of the salad suggests, the cucumber has to be »smashed«. Don’t go all-Hulk on the poor cucumber, or you will end up with cucumber purée. The goal is to break open some of the cells inside the cucumber flesh, so water can escape. Again – we don’t want cucumber purée ;P
In addition to the mechanical treatment of the cucumber, salt is also used to extract some of the liquid from the vegetable. This technique is used in other cucumber salad recipes as well. To do so, simply salt the cucumber pieces, let them sit for a while, and unwanted liquid from the veggie pieces will collect on the bottom of the bowl – easy to discard. If you used a lot of salt here, you might want to rinse the cucumber pieces briefly before using them in the recipe. I normally don’t use a lot of salt and skip this step most of the time…
The salad dressing or marinade (you should always let cucumber slices/pieces marinate for some time) is quite spicy here. On purpose, because it’s a spicy cucumber salad ;) Typical for many Asian dishes, and we like it a lot! If you can’t stand the heat simply use less chili oil here. The cucumber salad will be less spicy but still very delicious!
By the way, the salad is perfect as a side dish for all things BBQ. We also like to serve the salad together with some rice and spicy meatballs – maybe that’s an idea for you too!
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(4 servings)
1 large cucumber
1/4 tsp. salt
2-3 garlic cloves, grated
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar*
3 tsp. Ponzu soy sauce*
2-3 tsp. sesame oil*
2 tsp. crispy chili oil* (use more if you like it hot)
1 tsp. sugar (optional)
toasted sesame seeds
(4 Portionen)
1 große Salatgurke
1/4 TL Salz
2-3 Knoblauchzehen, gerieben
2 EL Reisweinessig*
3 TL Ponzu Sojasauce*
2-3 TL Sesamöl*
2 TL Crispy Chili Oil* (wer es scharf mag, nimmt mehr)
1 TL Zucker (optional)
geröstete Sesamsamen
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Cut off the ends of the cucumber and cut it in half. Cut both cucumber pieces lengthwise in half. Place them with the cut sides down onto your work surface, lay the blade of your knife sideways on the cucumber, and smash it with your hands by pressing the blade down. Depending on the cucumber you might have to use a bit more force for the cucumber to be smashed. Try not to cut yourself. You can also use a small cutting board instead of the knife ;) Slice the smashed cucumbers diagonally into slices (about 0.5 inches thick) and break those slices apart to get bite-size pieces. Sprinkle the cucumber pieces with the salt and let sit for about 20 minutes. The salt extracts water from the cucumber – drain that excess water.
2. Peel the garlic and grate it (or press through a garlic press*). Add to a small bowl with the rice wine vinegar. Mix and let sit for about 10 minutes.
3. Add Ponzu, sesame oil, crispy chili oil, and sugar (optional) to the bowl with the garlic and vinegar and mix to combine. When ready to serve, add the dressing to the bowl with the cucumber and mix to combine. Serve along with some rice, for example.
1. Die Enden der Gurke abschneiden und dann die Gurke halbieren. Die beiden Stücke dann längs noch einmal halbieren. Gurkenstücke mit den Schnittseiten nach unten auf die Arbeitsfläche legen. Die Messerklinge auflegen und dann mit den Handballen auf die Klinge drücken und damit die Gurken zerdrücken. Je nach Gurke braucht es hier eventuell etwas mehr Kraft. Die Gurken nicht komplett zermatschen, nur ein wenig. Wem das mit dem Messer zu gefährlich erscheint, der kann auch ein kleines Brettchen verwenden ;) Die zerdrückten Gurkenstücke diagonal in etwa 1cm dicke Spalten schneiden und die dann jeweils noch einmal auseinander brechen, damit mundgerechte Stücke entstehen. Alles mit dem Salz bestreuen, vermengen und dann für etwa 20 Minuten stehen lassen. Das Salz entzieht der Gurke Wasser, was weggeschüttet werden kann.
2. Den Knoblauch schälen und reiben (oder durch eine Knoblauchpresse* drücken). Mit dem Reisweinessig in eine kleine Schüssel geben – vermischen und etwa 10 Minuten ziehen lassen.
3. Ponzu, Sesamöl, Chili Öl und Zucker (optional) in die Schüssel mit dem Knoblauch und dem Essig geben und gut verrühren. Erst kurz vor dem Servieren das Dressing in die Schüssel mit der Gurke geben und vermischen. Der Salat wird gerne mit etwas Reis serviert.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Print
(Spicy) Smashed Cucumber Salad
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:00
- Total Time: 00:25
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: China
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Delicious and easy to prepare – Spicy Smashed Cucumber Salad. The perfect side salad with some meatballs and rice but also great on its own ;)
Ingredients
1 large cucumber
1/4 tsp. salt
2–3 garlic cloves, grated
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar*
3 tsp. Ponzu soy sauce*
2–3 tsp. sesame oil*
2 tsp. crispy chili oil* (use more if you like it hot)
1 tsp. sugar (optional)
toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
1. Cut off the ends of the cucumber and cut it in half. Cut both cucumber pieces lengthwise in half. Place them with the cut sides down onto your work surface, lay the blade of your knife sideways on the cucumber, and smash it with your hands by pressing the blade down. Depending on the cucumber you might have to use a bit more force for the cucumber to be smashed. Try not to cut yourself. You can also use a small cutting board instead of the knife ;) Slice the smashed cucumbers diagonally into slices (about 0.5 inches thick) and break those slices apart to get bite-size pieces. Sprinkle the cucumber pieces with the salt and let sit for about 20 minutes. The salt extracts water from the cucumber – drain that excess water.
2. Peel the garlic and grate it (or press through a garlic press*). Add to a small bowl with the rice wine vinegar. Mix and let sit for about 10 minutes.
3. Add Ponzu, sesame oil, crispy chili oil, and sugar (optional) to the bowl with the garlic and vinegar and mix to combine. When ready to serve, add the dressing to the bowl with the cucumber and mix to combine. Serve along with some rice, for example.
Notes
Enjoy your time in the kitchen!
Keywords: cucumber, smashed, salad, spicy
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;)
