Chinese Cucumber Salad

4.82 from 11 votes

This Chinese Cucumber Salad is simple and refreshing, with a mild garlic flavor balanced with the perfect amount of salt and rice vinegar. The secret is making a mild garlic oil in addition to a little bit of raw garlic!

Prep Time25

Cook Time5

Total Time30

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 86kcal

Author: Kaitlin

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic (minced very finely, almost like a paste)
3 tablespoons oil
2 English cucumbers (or 8-10 Persian cucumbers; if you can't find seedless cucumbers like these, just de-seed regular cucumbers)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt or salt to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Instructions

First prepare the garlic. When you’ve minced all of the garlic, set aside the equivalent of 1 clove.
Mix the oil and the rest of the garlic together, and set over medium-heat in a saucepan. Cook lightly for 2-3 minutes. Some foam will appear as the water in the garlic escapes. Do not let the garlic brown! This process takes about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Chop the cucumbers into quarters lengthwise and then into ½-inch chunks. Transfer to a bowl. Add the garlic oil, salt, sugar, pinch of MSG if using, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Finally, add the reserved minced raw garlic. Stir thoroughly to coat everything.
For the best results, let sit for at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld.

Nutrition

Chinese Cucumber Salad by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/chinese-cucumber-salad/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-33229":{"type":"food","name":"Chinese Cucumber Salad","slug":"wprm-chinese-cucumber-salad","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chinese-garlic-cucumber-salad-7.jpg","rating":{"count":11,"total":53,"average":4.82,"type":{"comment":11,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"amount":"6","unit":"cloves","name":"garlic","notes":"(minced very finely, almost like a paste)","id":269,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"6","unit":"cloves","timestamp":1774158559000},"type":"ingredient","uid":0,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"6","unit":"cloves","unitParsed":"cloves"}}},{"amount":"3","unit":"tablespoons","name":"oil","notes":"","id":268,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774158559000},"type":"ingredient","uid":1,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"","name":"English cucumbers","notes":"(or 8-10 Persian cucumbers; if you can't find seedless cucumbers like these, just de-seed regular cucumbers)","id":4518,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"","timestamp":1774158559000},"type":"ingredient","uid":2,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"1 1\/2","unit":"teaspoons","name":"salt or salt to taste","notes":"","id":2697,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1 1\/2","unit":"teaspoons","timestamp":1774158559000},"type":"ingredient","uid":3,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1 1\/2","unit":"teaspoons","unitParsed":"teaspoons"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sugar","notes":"","id":273,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774158559000},"type":"ingredient","uid":4,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1\/8","unit":"teaspoon","name":"MSG","notes":"(optional)","id":1408,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/8","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774158559000},"type":"ingredient","uid":5,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/8","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sesame oil","notes":"","id":266,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774158559000},"type":"ingredient","uid":6,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"rice vinegar","notes":"","id":347,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774158559000},"type":"ingredient","uid":7,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"}}}],"originalServings":"6","originalServingsParsed":6,"currentServings":"6","currentServingsParsed":6,"currentServingsFormatted":"6","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}