Our hot tropical summer demands a cool & refreshing salad to start our every meal and this smashed cucumber salad is just the perfect one to fit in! Plus it gives us the much needed spicy kick that we Indians always crave for!
Since the time I have started my lifelong fitness journey, I don’t remember a single meal that I have started without a large bowl of fresh salad! Whatever season it may be!
And now it has been a default part of our daily meals!
On regular days, we start our meals with a generous serving of freshly cut cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, beetroot and whatever other seasonal salad we can source.
Then on a fine day I stumbled upon this unique cucumber salad which the internet was going nuts over! Smashed cucumber salad!
A smashed salad? Really? Am I reading it right?
Well it turned out that I was reading it right and therefore was no way other than trying it myself and see why it is going so viral!
What is smashed cucumber salad?
I am sure you have seen multiple viral videos of smashed cucumber salad on various platforms, so I guess I do not need to explicitly describe what this salad actually means!
If you haven’t seen it, you can check out my video of this viral salad here or below!
I don’t know how this trend started or who got the idea of smashing the cucumbers before tossing them in that incredible chilli oil dressing.
But whoever brought this into existence, we must thank them for their innovation!
The cracks created due to the smashing absorb the spicy salad dressing beautifully making the salad taste insanely addictive!
And that’s what has made this salad viral; I am completely ignoring the weird satisfaction we get from smashing the cucumbers!
You must try this at least once to get a taste of this smashed magic!
Before going into the details of ingredients that you need to make this smashed cucumber salad, let me spend some time talking about one important element of this recipe!
It is not an ingredient which is why I can’t list it under ingredients; but it’s critical to have this thing to enjoy making this recipe!
I think you have already guessed it! Yeah, I am talking about the item that will help you convert a normal cucumber salad into a ‘smashed’ cucumber salad!
In my case it was a meat mallet! But having a meat mallet is not mandatory; you can use many other items from your kitchen!
For example – a rolling pin that you use to roll out your dough, a heavy cleaver if you have one or a heavy chef’s knife will also do the trick!
Ingredients for smashed cucumber salad
Cucumber: The star ingredient of smashed cucumber salad is of course our very own cucumber, the best friend of summers!
This one salad ingredient has become such an integral part of our meals that I sometimes wonder how many kilos of cucumber we buy every week!
Coming back to this viral smashed cucumber salad, feel free to use any type of cucumber that you like. We prefer European/English cucumbers which is what we used here.
If you are wondering why we are using European cucumbers instead of the local ones! For one reason these cucumbers do not need peeling which saves time & effort.
Secondly, these English cucumbers have lesser water content than the hybrid variety which make them taste better.
Salt: We will season our cucumbers with salt to extract all the water from it. This will also season the cucumbers nicely, so I won’t add any more salt in the dressing.
Garlic: Initially I was skeptical about adding garlic in my salad dressing! After all, it will remain raw and I wasn’t sure how raw garlic would taste!
Nevertheless, I went ahead with it and I must thank myself that I did!
All the other ingredients of the salad dressing created such a magical infusion that it killed all the rawness of garlic making it taste like a flavor-bomb!
Chilli oil: This condiment is an absolute must for making the most addictive salad dressing ever! Also get the real deal – the chilli oil which is full of chilli flakes & bits of garlic.
Without the chilli oil, this smashed cucumber salad is not complete and I will honestly give it a pass! It’s this chilli oil that takes things to a whole new level!
Light Soy sauce: Your salad dressing for smashed cucumber salad has a lot of umami thanks to the classic Chinese condiment i.e. soy sauce!
But of course use light soy sauce instead of dark soy in this dressing to keep the summary lightness intact in this summer salad.
Rice vinegar: No salad dressing is complete without the acidic tartness and that job is fulfilled by rice vinegar which has a very earthy flavor.
If you don’t have rice vinegar handy, you can substitute it with lime juice as well.
Sesame oil: I will be honest here! I didn’t have sesame oil at home as this is not a regularly used oil in my kitchen.
But I wanted to make my smashed cucumber salad in as precise a way as possible, so I got a bottle of sesame oil just for this. This nut oil adds a savory, umami kick to the salad dressing which you can’t miss!
Pro tip: Being a food blogger I know that I will make use of this sesame oil in many other ways; but if you are skeptical of getting a bottle of sesame oil just to make this smashed cucumber salad, I can totally understand your dilemma.
You can try substituting it with any other flavorless oil like canola or sunflower.
Brown sugar: An element of sweetness is essential to complement all the sharp flavors from other ingredients and round things up to complete the full flavor circle.
That’s where brown sugar will come into play as it imparts just the right amount of sweetness without overpowering this savory salad.
How to make smashed cucumber salad?
Step 1: If you are using European cucumbers, then you don’t need to peel them. Wash them thoroughly by rubbing the outer exterior with your hands to remove any dirt.
Step 2: Pat them dry and place on a cutting board. Now using a mallet or a heavy knife start smashing the cucumber one by one.
Step 3: You don’t need to completely mash up the cucumbers but break them randomly as you see in the video.
Step 4: Then cut each cucumber into small pieces. Transfer all the pieces to a mixing bowl.
Step 5: Sprinkle about a teaspoon of salt over the cucumbers and give a good stir using a spatula.
Step 6: Then leave the seasoned cucumbers on the kitchen counter for 15 minutes keeping the bowl covered. This will extract the moisture from the cucumbers.
Step 7: Meanwhile, prepare the salad dressing by mixing in a small bowl all the salad dressing ingredients – minced garlic, light Soy sauce, rice vinegar, chilli oil, sesame oil and brown sugar.
Step 8: Give a good whisk to make a homogeneous mixture. Set it aside.
Step 9: After about 15 minutes, uncover the bowl with smashed cucumbers and drain out all the released water.
Step 10: Then take a kitchen towel and gently pat the cucumbers to soak up any excess moisture from the cucumbers.
Step 11: Once you are happy with the cucumbers, start drizzling the prepared salad dressing 2 tablespoons at a time and give a good stir after each addition.
Step 12: For the amount of cucumbers I used, I added 4 tablespoons of the salad dressing which was good enough for my liking; too much dressing would turn the salad soggy.
Pro tip: You can preserve the dressing and use it again the next day.
Step 13: Your smashed cucumber salad is ready! Transfer the salad to a serving bowl, sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top and garnish with fresh coriander leaves! Enjoy!!
More delicious summer salads from flavor quotient
- Cucumber - 4 to 5
- Toasted sesame seeds - ½ tsp
- Freshly chopped coriander leaves to garnish
- Garlic - 8 to 10 cloves, finely minced
- Light Soy sauce - 2 tsp
- Rice vinegar - 2 tsp
- Sesame oil - 2 tsp
- Brown sugar - 2 tsp
- Chilli oil - 2 tbsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- If you are using European cucumbers, then you don't need to peel them. Wash them thoroughly by rubbing the outer exterior with your hands to remove any dirt.
- Pat them dry and place on a cutting board. Now using a mallet or a heavy knife start smashing the cucumber one by one.
- You don't need to completely mash up the cucumbers but break them randomly as you see in the video.
- Then cut each cucumber into small pieces. Transfer all the pieces to a mixing bowl.
- Sprinkle about a teaspoon of salt over the cucumbers and give a good stir using a spatula.
- Then leave the seasoned cucumbers on the kitchen counter for 15 minutes keeping the bowl covered. This will extract the moisture from the cucumbers.
- Meanwhile, prepare the salad dressing by mixing in a small bowl all the salad dressing ingredients - minced garlic, light Soy sauce, rice vinegar, chilli oil, sesame oil and brown sugar.
- Give a good whisk to make a homogeneous mixture. Set it aside.
- After about 15 minutes, uncover the bowl with smashed cucumbers and drain out all the released water.
- Then take a kitchen towel and gently pat the cucumbers to soak up any excess moisture from the cucumbers.
- Once you are happy with the cucumbers, start drizzling the prepared salad dressing 2 tablespoons at a time and give a good stir after each addition.
- For the amount of cucumbers I used, I added 4 tablespoons of the salad dressing which was good enough for my liking; too much dressing would turn the salad soggy.
- Your smashed cucumber salad is ready! Transfer the salad to a serving bowl, sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top and garnish with fresh coriander leaves! Enjoy!
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