Smashed Cucumber Salad - Pai Huang Gua

Step 1

In a small dish mix together all the sauce ingredients including the sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and oyster sauce and give it a quick mix.

Step 2

Next, wash the cucumber then lay on a wooden board or benchtop and smash lightly with rolling pin. Then slice up into 1 cm / ½ inch chunks and place in a medium bowl. Pour over the salt and sugar, giving it a quick mix to coat them, then allow to sit for a few minutes so the salt can soften the cucumber slightly and bring out the juices.

Step 3

Meanwhile, heat half the vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium high heat, pour in the peanuts and roast until they’re lightly browned on a few sides and start making a crackling sound (around 3 minutes). Remove the peanuts and place on top of the cucumber, leaving as much oil as you can in the pan.

Step 4

Add the remaining oil and garlic to the saucepan and quickly fry for 30 seconds or until nice and crispy. Add it to the sauce mix.

Step 5

Pour the sauce over the cucumber and peanuts, mix together and serve.