A couple notes on this one — first, in the accompanying video I didn’t really explain the background of the ‘Dai people’ very well. Instead, do check out our “En-rice-ification of Yunnan” for a more proper discussion.

Second, I should state that our process for this one was ‘go to a Dai restaurant in Kunming, ask the owner how to make it, endeavor to recreate it’. A more culturally correct version of the salad is over here in our “Celebrating seven years of MSG” post. That said, some people love this one, and it is indeed a delicious recipe nevertheless.

So the other week we were traveling Yunnan, and we really loved the food there – the food of the Dai minority especially. This cucumber salad is a Dai dish, and has quickly become my favorite version of smashed cucumber salad.

So the Dai people in China are loosely related to the Thai people in Thailand (some Dai people we met talked about how they’d watch Thai television, and understand ~50% if it). As such, Dai food and Thai food share striking similarities — sauces are usually pounded, sour and fermented ingredients feature prominently, and produce is quite similar to that of Northern Thailand. And yet, there’s some quite obvious Chinese influences as well — most people’ll use chopsticks, and there’s quite a few dishes that borrow heavily from Southwest Chinese food.

This dish is pretty illustrative of those influences. It’s a Chinese smashed cucumber salad, but features some really obvious Thai flavors. The nice thing about this dish is that unlike a lot of Dai food which relies on pretty specific Yunnan produce, this dish is super-replicable and… dare I say… easy?

We got this recipe from a Dai woman that runs an awesome hole-in-the-wall Dai restaurant in Kunming, so a big thanks to her. [update: the restaurant was a COVID-casualty, unfortunately)

Basic Ingredients:

1. Two East Asian –or– English Cucumbers. (黄瓜) If you’re based in Asia, this is just the standard cucumber you’d find at any market. Outside of Asia, what you’re looking for is some sort of ‘burpless’ cucumber – something long with thin skin and not a crazy amount of seeds. The most common burpless cucumber in the West is the “English Cucumber” IIRC.

2. One tomato (番茄). We’re gunna roast and dice this.

3. Cilantro (香菜), ~one bunch (thanks /u/]slawkenbergius!) Apologies, we really should’ve weighed this… but take a look at in the video for a visual. You’re gunna want enough Cilantro to get about half a cup of stems and a cup of leaves. It’s best if you can find some Cilantro that still has some of the root attached, as the root’s got a ton of flavor in it.

4. Garlic, ~2 cloves. Minced.

5. Ginger, ~1 inch. Minced.

6. One lime (青柠). Lime features prominently in Dai cuisine.

7. Sriracha Chili Sauce (是拉差辣椒酱/泰国辣椒酱), 2 tbsp. That’s right, that Sriracha… I was surprised too. This was sorta that Dai cook’s secret ingredient – i.e. “that chili sauce from Thailand”. We took a gander at her kitchen and, sure enough, it was Thai Sriracha. Now, note that Thai Sriracha is a little different than the Sriracha that people get in the West. The western Sriracha has a gummier, almost ketchup-like consistency (won’t present a problem here), and also’s a bit spicier.

8. Salt, 1 ½ tsp. One teaspoon for purging the cucumber, and a half teaspoon for seasoning.

9. Sugar, 1 tsp. For seasoning.

10. MSG (味精), ¼ tsp. Optional, for seasoning. We like a little MSG in this dish, but if you hate MSG it’s not a critical ingredient or anything.

11. Fresh Bird’s Eye Chili -or- Heaven-Facing Pepper (朝天椒), 1-2*. Optional. We included one, and so did the restaurant in Kunming… but if you’re using the spicier Western Sriracha sauce you might want to opt out of the chili. Or not, if you like heat – up to you.

12. Sawtooth Coriander (老缅芫荽), a.k.a. Culantro, 8-10 sprigs. Optional. This is a pretty common ingredient in Dai Yunnan food, but is sorta tough for us to source here in Guangdong. We added it in for the video, but we had to use it frozen. When we were testing the recipe, we didn’t usually add this in and the dish was just fine. It’s a nice addition, so add it in if it’s convenient… but don’t beat yourself up over it if you can’t find this.

… and that’s it. Basically all stuff that could be picked up at any sort of bog-standard Western supermarket. Feels a bit ironic that it’s the dish from Dai Yunnan that’d be the easiest for people abroad to source stuff for.

Process:

1. ‘Grill’ the tomato over the stove. Rip off the stem and cut an ‘X’ into the bottom of the tomato. We’re gunna peel this, but instead of a quick blanch like the Italians do we’re gunna grill the thing over the stove (you could alternatively use charcoal for super-authentic bonus points). Hold the tomato over a medium-high stove until the skin begins to blister and peel a little. Set that guy aside.

2. Cut the Cilantro bottoms (the stems/roots) from the tops (the leaves), and mince the Cilantro stems/roots, the garlic, and the ginger. The bottom of the cilantro – the stems and roots – have a ton of flavor, so they’re gunna go into our sauce. The leafy tops are gunna go into the salad, so set those leaves aside. Mince those stems/roots, the garlic and ginger, and toss in a large mortar or a deep bowl.

3. Season, then pound. First, season the minced ginger/garlic/cilantro stems mix with the salt (1/2 tsp), the sugar (1 tsp), and the MSG (1/4 tsp). What we’re doing is following standard Southeast Asian pounding protocol of first pounding our dry ingredients, then adding and pounding the wet. Ideally, you’d have a proper mortar and pestle here, but we only own one of those tiny ones meant for grinding spices. If you’re like us, feel free to toss it in a bowl and pound with whatever pestle-like object you got laying around (we used a pastry rolling pin). Pound that for about three minutes.

4. Peel and mince the tomato, then add the minced tomato and Sriracha Chili Sauce to the bowl and pound. The tomato should be cool now, so peel that and then mince it. We’re keeping the tomato juice/gel here, as it’s gunna be the base of the sauce. Toss the tomato (with as much juice as you can muster) into the bowl together with the chili sauce. Pound that for two minutes until you get a rather smooth looking sauce. Toss that in the coldest part of your fridge.

5. Peel the cucumbers, and cut in half. First thing’s first, make sure your cucumber is really cold. If you’re abroad, that shouldn’t present much of a problem… but for us we’ll usually pick up vegetables from the market in the morning (obviously not refrigerated). This has gotta be in the coldest part of your fridge for at least five hours – I absolutely despise lukewarm cucumber salad, and so should you. Roughly peel the cold cucumbers and cut in halves.

6. ’Smash’ the cucumbers, then cut into 1-2 inch strips. To smash, wrap the cucumber half in plastic wrap – this’ll ensure cucumber ain’t flying around your kitchen. Give it about twelve good whacks with the flat side of a cleaver (or some similarly blunt object), then cut the cucumber in nice 1-2 inch strips (you can also cut the strips once lengthwise if you like). The ‘smashing’ of the cucumber is key to any cold cucumber dish you wanna make – it’ll help the flavor ‘enter’ the cucumber better.

7. Purge the cucumbers for 15 minutes. This is a step that’s neglected by a lot of smashed cucumber recipes I’ve seen. Add one tsp of salt into a bowl with the cucumbers and coat it thoroughly, then toss it in the fridge for fifteen minutes. This’ll draw out excess water from the cucumbers, and also allow the flavor to ‘enter’ the cucumber more.

8. Drain the excess liquid from the cucumber, and chop up the cilantro, sawtooth coriander, and chilis. Drain the liquid that’s been drawn out from the cucumber. Roughly chop up the leafy cilantro tops and the sawtooth coriander (if using). Slice up your chili (if using) and lightly crush each slice with a knife.

9. Assemble the salad, squeeze the lime juice over it, mix thoroughly and serve on a chilled plate. So now take the cilantro, sawtooth coriander, chilis, and that tomato-herb-chili sauce that we finished in step 4 and toss it in with the cucumbers. Squeeze the juice of one lime all over the mixture - we like squeezing ~5/6 of the lime over it using a press, then lightly squeezing the remaining ~1/6 by hand and nestling it in the salad for garnish. Mix that all together super thoroughly, and serve on a chilled plate (i.e. one that’s been sitting in the freezer for about 30 minutes). Eat immediately.

Note on holding the dish:

You might want to make this in advance and eat/serve it later… but if you just tossed the finished product in the fridge, after 30-60 minutes the cucumber’s gunna start to get a bit mushy (from both the salt and the acid). Not a good look.

What you can do in advance: (1) making the sauce, (2) smashing/cutting the cucumber, and (3) slicing up the cilantro/sawtooth coriander/chilis. Once you’re about ready to eat, purge the cucumber and assemble according to step nine.