taiwanese cucumbers: my version

This is a staple ”小菜“ that I love and is also quite easy to make - especially if you want something quick, easy, and are looking to find ways to add to your daily serving of vegetables. I always enjoy making this dish because it seems like everyone around me loves it as much as I do, and lucky for me, fresh cucumbers are usually available at my local neighborhood market.

Feel free to use a variety of types of cucumbers - I find that aside from the English Seedless kind, all of the other kinds seem to work pretty well for this recipe.

Prep time: A little over one hour

Use three large cucumbers.

Cut ends off cucumber and smash with cleaver.

Remove seeds from cucumbers and break cucumbers into smaller pieces.

Cover with two teaspoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt.

Toss for two minutes and drain liquid.


Add two tablespoons of rice vinegar to cucumbers. Mix well.
Put in fridge and allow to marinate for one hour.

In the meantime, remove tunic and ends of one small red onion. 

About half of the onion will be used.
Slice onion into thin rings, then cut rings in half.

Take a quarter of one whole garlic and remove skin, and ends.

Smash, dice and chop.

Chop up a small handful of cilantro (I tend to go heavy with this!)

Once cucumbers have marinated for an hour, take out of fridge.
 Use a little bit of water (about half a cup) to rinse them and drain liquid.
Toss and mix in onions, garlic, cilantro to cucumbers. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper.

Mix in one tablespoon of Sesame Oil (right) and 

half a teaspoon of spicy oil if desired (left, this kind with peanuts). 

Et voila! My version of Taiwanese cucumbers! Serve immediately and enjoy!