This Cucumber Salad recipe is a welcome, healthier choice when you’re trying to eat on the lighter side of things.
The recipe comes from a cookbook by Bee Yin Low, the writer behind the popular food blog: Rasa Malaysia. The cookbook is called, “Easy Chinese Recipes: Family Favorites from Dim Sum to Kung Pao.” It’s a collection of Low’s all-time favorite dishes that are simple and easy to cook and eat at home. Low says there is a general misconception that Chinese food is unhealthy, greasy, and mostly deep-fried. In reality, Low says, there are many fresh and healthy Chinese recipes, such as this Cucumber Salad.
How do you make Cucumber Salad?
You’ll need a cucumber, about 8 to 10-inches long. Chop off the ends.
Cut it in fourths lengthwise.
Slice off the seeds.
Cut each piece diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces.
Sprinkle the cucumber with salt.
Let the cucumber sit at room temperature for 30 minutes (to draw out the moisture in the cucumber). Then drain the liquid from the dish. I actually like to rinse it at this point too since I don’t like an overwhelming salty flavor.
At this point, transfer the cucumber to a plastic bowl with a lid. Add sugar…
…and rice vinegar.
Put the lid on the bowl, shake it up to coat the cucumbers, and refrigerate it for an hour. This will give it a chance to soak up those flavors. The vinegar helps add crunch to the cucumber.
Serve this up as an appetizer or a side dish, or as a salad too.
It makes just two servings and each serving is 35 calories. And, if you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card at the end of this post.
It actually isn’t a Weight Watchers recipe at all… it just happens to be one of those wonderful, “fresh and healthy” recipes that Bee spoke of in her cookbook 🙂 And guess what? We love it! It’s crunchy and slightly sweet and totally refreshing. Yay for healthy Chinese food!
Highlight recipes from the book:
- Familiar favorites like Tasty Lettuce Wraps, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Pot Stickers, and Yangzhou Fried Rice AND Chinese Takeout Favorites like Simple Egg Drop Soup, Kung Pao Chicken and Beef with Broccoli.
I love that Bee includes information on techniques of stir frying, sharing the basic tools and utensils for Chinese cooking and explaining some of those unfamiliar Chinese ingredients. And the best part: there are photos of every single recipe in the book!
Here are a few more recipes using cucumbers you might enjoy:
Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cucumber
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons Chinese rice vinegar
Instructions
- Rinse the cucumber thoroughly with cold running water.
- Cut off the ends of the cucumber and discard. Quarter the cucumber lengthwise. Slice off the seeds and discard. Slice the cucumber diagonally into pieces, each about ½-inch wide.
- Transfer the sliced cucumber to a bowl and sprinkle salt over. Stir and then let the salted cucumber sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Drain the liquid from the bowl, rinse the cucumber and drain again. Transfer the cucumber to a plastic bowl (with a matching lid).
- Add sugar and vinegar to the cucumber in the bowl. Place the lid on top and shake it to combine. Refrigerate the cucumber salad for at least one hour before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m such a huge cucumbers fan; love easy recipes like this! Thanks for the shout-out for my Easy Low-Carb Cucumbers Caesar!
This was the exact recipe I was looking out for after having had this at a local Chinese Restaurant. The recipe is almost close to what we had. I did not get a chance to refrigerate it for an hour but it was yummy even at room temperature. Thank you for this!!! Loved it and I will be making this often. Quick and easy starter/ salad.
Drop in a few bits of crushed red pepper to add a little zip.
This is a standard side dish at most “plate lunch” and local style restaurants here in Hawaii, with variations depending on the maker. Even styles of slicing the cukes, some very thinly (using a mandoline) slice the cuke the long way, into thin ribbons, after seeding. Others just slice rounds or as shown here. Some add just a drop of sesame oil which I enjoy now and then.
This really is a simple but nummy side.
I just had this with my dinner and had to come back to post this comment. This is delicious. Definitely will be making this again. Thanks for sharing.
I tried these cucumbers and they are the best. Ill be making more of these and put on top of nice cold salads with veggies. THESE ARE THE BEST. Also have tried the UDON noodles and luv luv luv them.
tks for the recipes and soooooooooo versatile.
is this just pickled cucumber.. what do americans call everything with one vegetable a salad???
No, I wouldn’t say they’re pickled. This recipe actually comes from a Malaysian, not an American!