Smashed Cucumber Salad

I have made smashed cucumbers before, but I used cumin, lime and cilantro to season them. This version was pretty tasty as well. I served these to accompany Chinese carry out. They were good enough to just spoon over the rice and eat as a main dish! And they went nicely with chicken and ribs from the grill. I used Persian cucumbers from my garden to make this dish several times over the summer.

I had no idea what an English Cucumber was ... had seen them, but never tried them. I have tried many of Chef John's recipes. And have always enjoyed them ... so I decided to try this one. I followed the recipe as is ... I did not have anything but my hammer fist to beat the cucumbers (which came wrapped in plastic from the store). After beating them ... I rinsed them off and followed the rest of the recipe. I did not know how much crushed pepper to use so I used 1-teaspoon ... which was just right (for me). This dish was awesome!!! Thank you Chef John!!! I will save this and share this recipe with everyone ... kudos!

LOVE IT! The traditionally Asian ingredients of the dressing give this salad a unique personality and the smashing technique really IS fun! A great change from sour cream-and-dill-based cucumber salads (although we like those, too)!

I used a little more sesame oil, have made this for every pot luck since it posted. I'm making it again today. It's so delicious and simple.

I am new to cooking , I loved it, my kids loved it. The only question I had and was do you rinse the cucumbers after they have been draining and covered with salt and sugar.Do you rinse the cucumbers and then add it to the dressing. I didn't because it didn't say so, I don't know if it is common knowledge to do so (rinse), but it was very delicious.

I would use half the garlic next time.

I was skeptical at first but we loved Chef John's shaved asparagus salad so I thought what the heck, I'll smash a cucumber. It is very good. The cucumber stays crispy and there is just a tiny bit of spiciness. You can really taste the sesame oil. It all comes together so well . I will definitely make this again especially when cucumbers are overflowing in the garden. Thanks once again Chef John for another great recipe.

I love this recipe, so refreshing and light at the same time! Thank you Chef John!

this was absolutely delicious.. we made this with a regular cucumber and unseasoned rice vinegar.. i'm not sure if smashing did much of anything but we felt letting the cucumber drain with sugar and kosher salt really made a huge difference.. i'll definitely be doing that more often when making cucumber salads.. ty so much for the recipe

Great salad and easy to make. Let cucumbers rest for several hours in salt and sugar to extract excess water. One English cucumber per person

I have made this several times and each time its a hit. Be careful with the sesame oil, its very potent and too much can ruin the dish. I cut it down to 3/4 tsp. and I add a little extra sweetness with some Splenda ( watching our sugar use) just a sprinkle and its awesome. I have served it immediately after preparing and also chilled for an hour. Chilling is the way to go for the best flavor but either way its a great dish.

Tastes like the Korean restaurant down the street. Easy and fabulous! I serve it with bulgogi and rice.

The flavor and texture for this cucumber salad is excellent. I made it as written, wielding a cast iron skillet. This is really a much faster way than peeling and slicing. I would only use one teaspoon of crushed garlic as you don't want that flavor taking over. I would also recommend using the English cucumbers; the other ones you get at the store have a tougher peel.

I halved the soy sauce, it was perfect.

We loved this. I already had the cucumbers sliced before I looked for a dressing recipe. I put in “cucumbers with vinegar” and this came up. We lived in Japan and this reminds me of the side dish they served using lovely Japanese cucumbers smaller than an English cucumber.

The first I made this, I followed the recipe carefully and it was delicious. The second time I made it, I switched up the dressing ingredients (apple cider vinegar, olive oil, lemon basil) - still delicious.

Really good outside the box easy to make cucumber salad! If you’re making it to share, (at least) double it as it doesn’t make much. I made as written, using salt and pepper with unseasoned rice vinegar. Thanks for the recipe, Chef John!

Followed recipe exactly and found the flavor too bland. I will stick to the sour cream and dill recipes for flavor.

To be fair, I made LOTS of changes: First, the cucumbers were not smashed until after I cut them into cubes because I did it already and then looked up a recipe for cucumbers salads...I added some erythritol sweetner (1 TBSP) because I thought I might like it better if it were a little sweet, and I did. I also used some roasted and salted sunflower seeds because I didn't have any peanuts. They were quite good in this. It was not a hit at our Labor Day gathering, but it wasn't a complete bust either. I was just looking to use up a surplus cucumber, so it was ok.

The sauce was perfect! I like using persian cucumbers a lot more.

I'm not sure I taste any difference between smashed, or chopped cucumber but this sure was tasty, and easy to make. If you don't feel like making the mess from smashing your cucumbers I'm sure this will be just fine with chopped cucumbers.

This was a great recipe: easy, tasty and fresh tasting. I added cooked chicken. Next time I will use three cucumbers so I will have leftovers!

Loved it.

Loved it except I put too much crushed red pepper. Even the kids liked it. Did an hour first and then 30 minutes with dressing.

This was great, I added avocado to it.

7 10 17 ... http://allrecipes.com/recipe/258377/smashed-cucumber-salad/ ... Cucs are coming in strong; subbed with regular cucs; sliced lengthwise, deseeded, smashed & cut. I let 'em sit for an hour; stirred, & another hour. Light, crispy cucs. 'A little more color & another texture would be nice; pomegranate seeds, sunflower seeds, nuts? I dunno. It's good as is, just not remarkable. :)

We Loved this salad. I added a bit of agave syrup to the mix to sweeten it up quite a bit having found out that Hubby does not like vinegar taste! It went so well with pork fried rice and 5 spice pork steaks by Chef John. So freakin YUMMO! We will make it all again.

Loved it.

So good! I used fresh young cucumbers from our CSA. I was out of soy sauce, so subbed a small amount of chili paste for that and the pepper flakes. Do give the salad time to marinate, as the flavors really develop. It had a good savory Korean vibe. We will definitely make this again.

Made this with one cucumber (all I had) and kept the same amount of dressing. Really liked it and would recommend it to anyone who likes cucumbers. May try adding some fresh ginger next time.

Made exactly as written, let cukes drain over bowl for about two hours. I marinated longer than I intended to ( 3 -4 hours) and they were delicous. I was not clear if I was supposed to add the juice from the cuke back in or not so I did. Can't wait to make this again.

Draining them in a colander still seems to leave them a bit too "full" of water for my taste. I tried packing them tighter in a bowl, and upping the sugar amount (which I made sure to wash away later) and they got much softer, which is my preference. I also needed a bit more of the sauce mixture than indicated in the recipe to let more of the flavors mix together.

It is slightly addictive.

This was a great recipe: easy, tasty and fresh tasting. I added cooked chicken. Next time I will use three cucumbers so I will have leftovers!

No changes. Yes, I’ll make it again. Thanks Chef Jon ??

Excellent! I made this recipe with no changes except that I used mostly lemon cucumbers, which have been more abundant in our garden than the regular variety. Simple prep and wonderful flavor.

We are doing the Keto diet so I used Monkfruit sweetener instead of sugar. This was the second time I made this recipe and loved it!

Somehow I was expecting more from this recipe it was good just not as delicious as I was hoping.

Made this according to the recipe with no exceptions. Neither my husband or I liked it. I wanted to like it so I could have another recipe for cucumbers, but just didn’t care for it

This salad was so good! I love cucumbers, and this was such a fun way to prepare them. Even if you don't like cucumbers, I still suggest that you try this recipe and maybe it will convert you. I will definitely make it again. Thank you Chef John!

Followed the recipe exactly. Easy, delicious and refreshing. Perfect for a hot summer night. The only hard part was waiting for it to marinate!

This is so light and refreshing. Definitely need to use English cucumbers and watch the video to see the smashing technique.

Easy and delicious, perfect for a summer dinner. I chose to marinate for nearly an hour before serving.