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Din Tai Fung is known for the soup dumplings, but their Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad is also one of their most popular side dishes and extremely delicious! This cucumber salad is an extremely simple dish consisting of sliced, marinated cucumbers in a delicious sweet, spicy, soy-based sauce. It comes together in just a few minutes and only requires one bowl for a quick and flavorful side dish!
Watch the Din Tai Fun Cucumber Salad Recipe Video Below!
This copycat Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad is an excellent side dish to go with rice, noodles, or dumplings and is a dish best served cold! It’s a great side dish as we begin to enter the summer time and goes great as a side dish with so many different types of foods or as a snack all by itself.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make the Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad
Luckily, you won’t need many ingredients to create this incredible dressing for this Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad! These are probably items you already have in your pantry. Here is what you’ll need for the marinade:
- Light Soy Sauce (I use reduced sodium soy sauce for lower salt content)
- Rice Vinegar
- Sugar
- Garlic
- Chili Oil
- Sesame Oil
- Kosher Salt
Ingredient Tip
Ingredient Tips
RICE VINEGAR
If you don’t have rice vinegar, you can substitute for red wine vinegar or distilled white vinegar for this recipe.
CHILI OIL
I love using a homemade chili oil any chance I get. Try my homemade Chinese Chili Oil Recipe for the chili oil for a wonderful spice!
What Type of Cucumber Should You Use For the Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad?
For Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad, I recommend using either Persian or English cucumbers for a few reasons:
- They are seedless. I personally do not like seeds in my cucumber salads and try to remove them when possible.
- Persian and English cucumbers are typically sweeter and contain less water than regular cucumbers. This will result in a more crisp salad when marinated in the dressing!
You can find either of these types of cucumbers in your local market and they should be readily available. If for some reason you can’t find either of these types of cucumbers, regular cucumbers will work as well.
Recipe Instructions
Prepare the Cucumber Dressing
To prepare the Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad dressing, mix together light soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, grated garlic, chili oil, and sesame oil. Whisk them together and your dressing is ready!
Prepare Your Cucumbers
Begin preparing your cucumbers by slicing them into 1/2″ rounds. Once your cucumbers are uniformly sliced, place them in a bowl and mix the cucumbers with salt, then let them sit for 30 minutes. Next, rinse off the salt and pat them as dry as possible with a kitchen or paper towel.
The salt will help to draw out excess moisture for the cucumbers through osmosis which will result in a more crisp vegetable.
Marinate Your Cucumbers
Once the cucumbers are as dry as possible, add them to the dressing and mix them well to get each piece coating in that delicious dressing. Let them sit in the marinade for at least 10 minutes then stack them up and enjoy!
If you are making Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad ahead of time, make sure to transfer them into an air tight storage container up to 2-3 days in advance.
Garnish Your Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad
Once the cucumbers are stacked beautifully, the final step is to add an additional drop of chili oil to each cucumber for that pop of color and spice! Serve and enjoy!
Recipe TipS
Recipe Tips
SLICING THE CUCUMBER
Try to be as uniform as possible when slicing the cucumbers. I prefer 1/2″ rounds, but you could go as thin as 1/4″ rounds as well. The uniform slicing will help with stacking and presentation of your Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad!
STORAGE
You can make Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad 2-3 days ahead of time! Make sure to store them in the fridge in an air tight container with the dressing.
If you liked this Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad recipe, check out some of the most popular recipes on the blog! Please consider leaving a review and letting me know your thoughts about the recipe. It really helps out the blog!
- Din Tai Fung Fried Rice
- Din Tai Fung Green Beans
- Beef and Broccoli
- Sesame Chicken
- String Bean Chicken
If you tried this Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb cucumber, Persian or English
- 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1/2 tbsp chili oil
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Chop cucumbers into ½” rounds and place in a large bowl with salt for 30 minutes. Rinse off the salt with water and place them on a paper towel. Pat the cucumbers as dry as possible.
- In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, grated garlic, chili oil and sesame oil.
- Add your dry cucumbers to the bowl and mix with the dressing to combine. Let marinate for 10 minutes and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this simple recipe. I make this all the time..sometimes I spiral the cukes! Delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipes!
An absolute staple in our house, love how simple this is!
So good!
My kids absolutely love din Tai fung cucumbers and this copycat is the best thing I’ve found. Happy kids = happy mama!!
I have made this recipe almost every week since it was posted. Simply delicious.
@casey._.s
Amazing!
So simple, so refreshing and so much umami. We love the DTF cucumber salad and this is the recipe I use when we make them at home! They’re great as a snack or side dish with any spicy noodles. The mini cakes (japanese or persian) are best for the crunch, but I use any cucumber based on cost, and it still tastes great.
Easy to follow recipe for one of my favorite dish at Din Tai Fung, thanks for putting this up.
Way better than din tai fung ! Everyone’s favorite whenever we have a family gathering!
So easy, quick, and delicious! I always order Din Tai Fung’s cucumber salad as an appetizer because it’s so crisp and refreshing but I’m so glad I can make this so easily at home! Healthy and delicious and I don’t have to spend much on ingredients or make a trip for DTF! thanks, CJ! one of my favorites!