Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen30 Minutes

Asian cucumber salad

Name: Asian cucumber salad
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1 large cucumber; 1 tsp of salt; 1 tsp of sugar; 3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar; 1 tbsp of soy sauce; 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped; ½ fresh red chili deseeded and finely chopped (optional); 5 sprigs of coriander finely chopped; 1 tbsp roasted white sesame seeds

Eva PauFrom the series · Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen

30 min totalServes 4Easy

Time30 min

Serves4

SkillEasy

ShowEva Pau's Asian Kitchen

Method

Smash the cucumber with the side of your cleaver or a rolling pin and then roughly chop the cucumber into cubes. Smashing the cucumber allows the sauces to seep into the cucumber giving it more flavour.

Place all the chopped cucumber pieces into a sieve over a bowl. Sprinkle with some salt and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes. The salt helps draw the water out of the cucumber giving it a bit more crunch.

Finely chop the garlic, fresh coriander, fresh red chili (if using).

To complete the cucumber salad, pour the drained cucumber into a bowl. Now add the soy, seasoned rice vinegar, garlic, coriander, sugar and chili. Mix well. It can be eaten immediately or kept in the fridge until serving.

Cook's notes

Smash the cucumber with the flat of a cleaver or a rolling pin before chopping — the ragged edges soak up the dressing where neat slices just sit in it.
Don't skip the salting: 15–20 minutes in a sieve pulls out the watery liquid so the cucumber stays crunchy instead of going limp and diluting the dressing.
It's already seasoned rice vinegar, so taste before adding more salt after draining — the cucumber has held onto some from the salting step.
The chilli and coriander are easy to flex to taste; deseed the chilli if you want the warmth without much heat.
It only gets better with a short sit in the fridge as the garlic and vinegar work in, so a little ahead of time is no bad thing.

Serve with A natural partner to anything fried or fatty — crispy tofu, char siu, dumplings or a rich braise — where its sharp, cold crunch cuts through. It also holds its own as part of a spread of small dishes with steamed rice.

Make ahead & storage Keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days in a covered container, though it softens and weeps a little more each day. Best eaten within 24 hours while the crunch is at its peak; give it a stir before serving.

30 MinutesAsian

Recipe by Eva Pau · From the series Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 13 July 2026 · Updated 15 July 2026

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