Asian Cucumber Salad

This Asian cucumber salad recipe is a really simple and beautiful side dish. You can alter the level of spice to your own taste but I would say that this recipe is very mild. You can slice/chop/smash the cucumbers however you like; I like it simply sliced thin. I adapted heavily from this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Persian cucumbers or 1-2 large English cucumbers
• 1½ Tbsp salt
• 2 Tbsp chili crisp (optional)
• 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp honey or sugar
• 1 Tbsp Korean chili flakes
• 2 cloves grated garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Cut off the ends on each cucumber and cut them in half lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scrape out the inner seeds. Lay a large chef knife on top of the cucumbers slices and hit the knife to smash the cucumbers. Use the knife to very coarsely chop the smashed cucumbers into ~2 cm chunks. 
2. Alternatively, just slice the cucumbers crosswise into coins or half moons. 
3. Sprinkle several tablespoons of salt over the cucumbers, put them in a strainer over a large plate, and allow them to rest for 30 minutes to draw out moisture. After the 30 minutes, wash them under cold water to rinse off the salt. Dry them.
4. While the cucumbers are resting with the salt, mix the remaining ingredients together. 
5. Add the cucumbers and stir to combine. For best results, let it marinate for an hour in the fridge.

Serves 1-2.