Smacked Cucumber Salad - Virtual Cooking Class (Recipe 23 of 125)

Today we had our company holiday party...I know it's past the holidays. We moved it because it was, well, easier to do it later...you know how December gets crazy. Anyhow, today was a virtual cooking class with Tom Douglas. If you don't know who he is, he's a Seattle chef who has a metric crap ton of restaurants. 

Ahead of today's class we received a box of goodies that had all the ingredients we'd need for today. Some were already put together for us some were not. The theme of today's class... DUMPLINGS!! aka Potstickers. The recipe for the dumplings is here.

I'll put all the recipes below but am only counting one as a new recipe. The cucumber salad recipe we did actually have to make ourselves and since two out of the three containers that came for this recipe burst in the package, I had to actually measure out the ingredients. Thank heavens I had them. 

This recipe was delicious. I love cucumbers, they just don't love me. I burp just thinking about them. The flavor of this recipe was dead on. I'm going to make it again for Saturday with the niece and family dinner. 

I didn't "smash" my cucumber. I just couldn't. My OCD self just couldn't do it. So I did what Tom suggested I cut it in half lengthwise, then quartered the halves, then sliced them on a diagonal. We made it first and then let it sit for 30 minutes or so. I couldn't eat it all because of how many dumplings I ate... so I tossed them in the fridge. They'll make a great breakfast.

Smacked Cucumber Salad

Recipe from Hsiao-Ching Chou (she a chef who works with Tom and he gushed about her the whole time - so she is all that and a slice of bread)

Serves 4

2-3 English cucumbers, skins on

1 T soy sauce

1/2 T balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp sugar

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Pinch of pepper flakes

Trim the ends off the cucumber. Starting at one end of the cucumber, place the flat of your knife on top of the cucumber. Gently but firmly strike the blade with the heel of your palm to smash the cucumber into pieces. (I have to admit I had images of Gallagher with this). Repeat this for the rest of the cucumbers. If there are any large sections, you can cut through them. 

Put the smashed cucumbers in a medium bowl. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic and red pepper flakes, and mix well. Cover and let the cucumbers marinate on the counter for at least thirty minutes before serving. Store the cucumber in the refrigerator, covered, for up to three days.