JAPANESE SMASHED CUCUMBER SALAD
たたききゅうり

A woman, Martina Sazunic, with pink hair and a colourful shirt holding a bowl of green salad in a kitchen. Behind her are shelves with various food items, a framed artwork of a wave, and some decorative neon lights.
A bowl of Japanese cucumber salad with toasted shio kombu seaweed topped with sesame seeds, placed on plate.

Cool, crisp, and refreshingly simple, Japanese Smashed Cucumber salad, たたききゅうり Tataki-kyuri in Japanese, is an izakaya classic and brings a whole new flavour and feeling to eating fresh cucumber. 

  1. You can make the dressing in advance, but be sure to dress the cucumbers just before serving for peak crispness.

  2. If you can find it, the addition of “Shio Kombu” which is strips of seasoned and salted seaweed, really make this simple dish pop.

A bowl of Japanese cucumber salad with toasted shio kombu seaweed topped with sesame seeds, placed on plate.

INGREDIENTS

Assorted Japanese and Korean seasonings on a kitchen countertop, including garlic salt, gochugaru red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and Korean sesame seed oil in a yellow tin container.

Main Ingredients

1 medium cucumber (or 2 small)

1 tbsp Shio Kombu (salted seaweed) 

Dressing

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

½ tsp garlic salt 

Pinch of white sugar

Dash of red pepper flakes

Person pouring sesame oil into a measuring cup with spices inside, on a kitchen counter with cucumber and seasoning bottles nearby.

MAKE THE DRESSING

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a small jar or bowl.

PRO TIP: Start by adding the dry ingredients then the wet ingredients so you don’t have to things sticking to your spoon or measuring device.

A person pouring a brown liquid with spice into a glass measuring cup in a kitchen.

Make sure to whisk until all ingredients have dissolved to make the dressing.

PEEL THE CUCUMBER
🔪🥒

Person holding a cucumber on a wooden cutting board, preparing to peel with a peeler.

You don’t want to remove all the skin, but rather peel a strip from end to end, then rotate the cucumber leaving a bit of skin, then peel another strip. This should leave some skin on the cucumber in a striped pattern.

SMASH THE CUCUMBER
🔨🥒

Woman, Martina Sazunic, with pastel pink hair smiling while hitting a large cucumber in front of her.

Place cucumbers on a cutting board  and use a pestle or rolling pin to gently smash the cucumbers.

A partially sliced cucumber on a wooden cutting board with a cartoon pig face logo. A person wearing a Meemers black T-shirt with pink and yellow graphics is seen in the background.

Pound one side of the cucumber, around 4 smashes top to bottom. Then, rotate the cucumber and smash it on another side.

PRO TIP: Put the cucumber inside a large ziploc bag to prevent flying pieces

CUT THE CUCUMBER
✂️🥒

Person slicing a cucumber lengthwise on a wooden cutting board with a chef's knife.

Once the cucumber is completely broken open, cut off the ends. Then, use your fingers to break apart the rest of the cucumber. 

A person chopping cucumbers on a wooden cutting board, with chopped cucumbers and a black knife visible.

Use a knife to slice the cucumber into pieces small enough to comfortably pick up with chopsticks.

MIX TOGETHER
🥗

Person pouring a liquid from a glass measuring cup onto chopped cucumber in a glass container, with a packet of dried seaweed on the table.

Just before serving, toss the cucumbers in the dressing and mix thoroughly making sure to coat all pieces evenly with dressing.

A person's hands holding a glass container with sliced cucumbers and green herbs, seasoned with sesame seeds and red pepper flakes.

ADD SHIO KOMBU

Arrangement of Japanese and Korean food products on a wooden surface, including a bottle of soy sauce, a packet of dried shio seaweed, and a container of Korean sesame oil.

If you have shio kombu, sprinkle about 1 tbsp on and gentle toss.

A person holding a bunch of dried, grayish-brown dried seaweed covered in MSG or salt over a container of cucumbers

PRO TIP: Aim to have a roughly a strand of shio kombu for each piece of cucumber

A bowl of Japanese cucumber salad topped with seaweed and sesame seeds, placed on a decorative plate.

Serve and eat within the hour (otherwise the cucumber will get soft) and enjoy this izakaya classic with a cold glass of beer or oolong tea.

Watch on Youtube

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