Cucumber Salad With Roasted Peanuts and Chile

By Sue Li

Updated July 11, 2023

  • Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
5(4,611)
Comments
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Easy to assemble but far from basic, this cucumber salad delivers a riot of flavors and textures with snappy cucumbers, velvety peanut sauce, crunchy cilantro-peanut topping and zingy chile oil. The details make all the difference: First, salting the cucumbers mutes the fruit’s subtly bitter notes while heightening flavor. Next, the simple peanut sauce adds richness to the cool cucumbers. (Make a large batch and store it in the fridge to drizzle over vegetables, chicken and salads.) Finally, a flurry of finely chopped peanuts, cilantro and red-pepper flakes gets dusted over the salad in layers to disperse flavor.

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Ingredients

Yield:2 to 4 servings

  • 6 Persian cucumbers (about 1 pound), cut lengthwise into thin spears, then cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces

  • Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

  • ¼ cup salted, roasted peanuts

  • ¼ cup cilantro leaves

  • 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

  • 3 tablespoons natural unsalted peanut butter

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

  • 1 small garlic clove, grated

  • Chile oil, store-bought or homemade, for serving (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 to 4 servings)

10 grams carbs; 152 calories; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 11 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 446 milligrams sodium; 7 grams protein; 5 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Toss cucumbers with ½ teaspoon kosher salt in a colander. Set aside to drain.

  2. Step 2

    Chop peanuts, cilantro and red-pepper flakes together until very fine. Set aside.

  3. Step 3

    In a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Add up to 1 tablespoon water, if needed, to thin mixture. Transfer salted cucumbers to the bowl with dressing and toss to coat.

  4. Step 4

    To serve, place half of the cucumber salad on the plate, sprinkle with half of the peanut mixture. Repeat with the remaining cucumber salad and peanut mixture. Drizzle with chile oil, if using, and serve immediately.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
4,611 user ratings
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Comments

Todd

Sweet lord and baby jesus, this is INCREDIBLE! Haha, I can't believe how good it is, I ate the entire bowl and called it dinner. Used regular cukes cause I couldn't fine the fancy ones, removed the seeds Used a grated jalapeno (no seeds) instead of the chili flakes. Used 1 tblsp soy sauce and 1 tblsp. fish sauce Used regular peanut butter and skipped the sugar Used cilantro AND mint Cried like a baby because it was so friggen good. Though I wouldn't eat it before a date (crazy burps, haha)

Tom Follery

I don't follow the recipe at all, but it didn't turn out as described. Bad recipe.

Alexa Weibel, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking

Winelady! You are absolutely right -- thank you! We've since adjusted the recipe for clarity, suggesting that readers first cut the cucumbers lengthwise into thin spears, then to cut the spears into 2-inch segments. Looks like the food stylist cut the 2-inch segments on an angle, because they're fancy like that! This salad is delicious any way you slice it. (Seriously, I have made it three times in the last month!) Enjoy!

JLD

The first batch we made had excellent potential, but was (as others have noted) waaaaayyyyyy too salty. Ended up composting a good part of it. Second time around: used *unsalted* peanuts, ONE tbsp of *low-sodium* soy, left out the add'l 1/2 tsp kosher salt in the sauce, and did not salt the cukes to start (yes, that meant more water, but the sauce is fairly thick anyway). This made the dish much more edible & it was quite delicious.

Jodi

Really excellent in flavor and texture, and not difficult. It helps to use high-quality thin-skinned cukes, during farmers market season. I used the ingredients just as listed, could see using a little mint, Thai basil, lime juice, fish sauce.

Beth H

A family favorite - we serve over noodles, use cashew butter & nuts instead of peanut b/c allergies and add Lao Gan Ma chili crisp to the sauce because it makes everything better.

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