Chinese🥬 Vegetables

Yunnan Smashed Cucumber Salad

Name: Yunnan Smashed Cucumber Salad
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 200 g Asian cucumber; 3 bird's eye chilies; 3 garlic cloves; 1 tbsp toasted peanuts; 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds; 20 g carrot; 1/8 onion; ¼ tomato; 1 tsp toasted or smoked chili powder; 10 g cilantro; 10 g culantro (or additional cilantro); ¼ tsp salt; ½ tsp soy sauce; ½ tsp oyster sauce; ½ tsp MSG; 1 lime

⏱ 15 min

A refreshing Yunnan cold dish that blends Thai and Chinese culinary approaches. Lightly smashed cucumber is tossed with spicy chilies, roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, julienned vegetables, and fresh herbs. MSG is used to balance the heat of the chilies and enhance the overall flavour.

Adapted from a video by Chinese Cooking Demystified

What we've learned after 7 years of using MSG

Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

Asian cucumberhalf peeled, seeds removed, lightly smashed and grooved with knife back to help sauce cling, cut into 1-inch pieces200 g
bird's eye chiliesminced together with garlic3
garlic clovesminced together with chilies3
toasted peanutsroughly chopped1 tbsp
toasted sesame seedsroughly chopped1 tsp
carrotroughly 1 inch, julienned20 g
onionsliced1/8
tomatoseeded and diced

Steps

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1
Prepare the cucumber: select an Asian cucumber, approximately 200g. Split lengthwise in half, peel one side for appearance, and remove all seeds. Gently smash with the blade, then use the knife back to create shallow grooves for sauce adhesion. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
2
Prepare chili-garlic mixture: mince together 3 bird's eye chilies and 3 garlic cloves into a fine paste.
3
Prepare nutty mixture: roughly chop and combine 1 tablespoon toasted peanuts with 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds.
4
Build the base: add the cucumber pieces to a bowl, then add approximately 20g julienned carrot, 1/8 of a sliced onion, and 1/4 of a diced tomato.
5
Add seasonings and herbs: stir in the chili-garlic mixture, 1 teaspoon toasted or smoked chili powder, and the nutty mixture. Add approximately 10g each of finely minced cilantro and culantro (or 20g cilantro total).
6
Final seasoning: add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce, and a generous 1/2 teaspoon MSG to balance the chilli heat. Squeeze in juice from 1 lime.
7
Mix thoroughly: toss all ingredients very well until the dressing is evenly distributed throughout. Serve immediately.

Yunnan Smashed Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

Steps

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