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Smashed cucumber salad (pai huang gua)
Cool, crunchy cucumber in garlic, black vinegar and chilli oil
Pai huang gua turns up on tables from Beijing to Guangzhou, often the first dish to land at a summer meal because it takes ten minutes and cools the mouth between spicy bites. Smashing the cucumbers rather than slicing them cracks them into rough pieces that soak up dressing in minutes. It goes with any stir-fry, noodles or dumplings. Chef's tip: salt the smashed pieces for 10 minutes and pour off the water, otherwise the dressing is diluted to nothing by the time you sit down.
- Total time
- 10 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Main
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Lay 2 cucumbers on a board and whack them along their length with the flat of a cleaver or a rolling pin until they split. Cut into bite-sized chunks on the diagonal.
Step 2: Toss with ¾ tsp salt in a bowl and leave for 10 minutes, then tip away the liquid that collects.
10 minStep 3: Mix 3 cloves garlic, 1 ½ tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil and 1 tbsp chilli oil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Step 4: Common mistake: dressing the cucumber hours ahead; it goes limp. Toss just before serving, scatter with 1 tbsp fresh coriander and 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds, and serve cold.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 60 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 7 g
- Fat
- 3 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does smashed cucumber salad (pai huang gua) take?
- About 10 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of cucumbers?
- Courgette, same weight (in salads, use young ones).
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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