Smacked Spicy Cucumber Salad Without Soy Sauce

Smacked Spicy Cucumber Salad without soy sauce is tantalizingly juicy. The cucumbers are smacked to release their natural juices then tossed through a sweet chili and garlic dressing without any oil. This naturally vegan salad is well balanced and a perfect side.

🥒What is Spicy Cucumber Salad?

Spicy Cucumber Salad is a fresh and crunchy dish that combines the crispness of cucumbers with the heat of chili and the tanginess of vinegar. 

This dish is popular in Asian cuisine, particularly in Southeast Asia where it is often served as a side dish or as a refreshing palate cleanser. I first came across this salad during one of my Hong Kong visits, also this amazing Chinese tiger salad.

This recipe is without soy sauce and oil.

😋Why You'll Love this Recipe

• Perfect for a vegan or plant-based diet
• Quick and easy to prepare
• Fresh and crunchy texture, spicy and tangy flavor without any oil
• Can be served as a side dish, just like my cucumber and onion salad with vinegar and sugar 
• Dietary friendly - vegan, gluten free, soy free, oil free, dairy free, nut free and low fat

🥒Ingredients You'll Need

Cucumbers provide the crunchy texture that is essential to this dish. Use firm and fresh cucumbers for the best result. If the cucumbers being used contain hard seeds, scoop these out prior to chopping.

Tip: Using a cleaver makes smacking a cucumber easier.

Chili adds a spicy kick to the dish. Use fresh or dried chili depending on your preference. I have used dried flakes in these photos.

Rice wine vinegar adds tanginess to the dish and balances out the heat from the chili. Other types of vinegar such as apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar can be used, however this will alter the flavor.

Maple Syrup balances out the tanginess of the vinegar and enhances the overall flavor of the dish.

Fresh garlic cloves adds a pungent and fragrant flavoring. For texture, smack the garlic cloves and roughly chop, otherwise using a garlic press is fine.

Tamari sauce is an alternative to soy sauce and adds saltiness to this dish which enhances the overall flavor. It doesnt contain any soy and can be found at major supermarkets, health stores or bought online here.

Sesame seeds will be toasted to release their natural oils and boost the nutty flavors.

Red chili flakes is the spicy component of this salad. Feel free to add as much as you like.

🥒How to Make Spicy Cucumber Salad

Step 1 - With a knife smack the cucumbers until the insides feel like they have started to fall apart, then quarter and slice at an angle.

Step 2 - Over medium heat, add sesame seeds to a dry fry pan and stir them until they are golden. Add them to the cucumber.

Step 3 - Mix together the chili, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, crushed garlic, and tamari sauce in a separate bowl. Pour the sauce over the cucumbers and mix well.

Step 4 -Chill the cucumber salad in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes before serving to help infuse the flavors.

Tip: Refrigerating for longer will help the flavours to meld, toss before serving.

🥢Serving Suggestions

Here are five complementing foods to enjoy with this spicy cucumber salad:

• Tossed with cooked noodles such as soba, rice, or glass
• Tofu - try this lemongrass chili tofu - some of the ingredients can easily be swapped
• With brown rice mixed with silken tofu (this is a quick meal I like to have for a desk lunch - you might need to adjust the dressing to accomodate for the additional ingredients)
• Cooked vegetables such as these miso flavored Japanese style silverbeet

❓FAQ

🥗 Related Recipes

You will also like carrot cucumber salad, bell pepper cucumber salad or this glass noodle salad. Or try this refreshingly cold cucumber soup.

For a bowl filled with a variety of foods, try this rice vermicelli buddha bowl.

You might also like these Asian brussels sprouts made without oil.