Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad

Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad is the perfect, light appetizer to complement any Asian-style dish. If you like Din Tai Fung, you are going to love this easy copycat recipe!

The cucumber salad at Din Tai Fung is my go-to appetizer every time I go to the restaurant. If you’ve never had it before, it’s a refreshingly crisp, chilled cucumber salad that’s deceptively simple yet incredibly flavorful. It’s not your typical cucumber salad with vinegar and onions like you would find at most summer potlucks. The cucumbers are cut thick and marinated in a light, savory-sweet chili oil garlic dressing. It’s a little tangy, a little umami, and a lot of fresh, cucumber crunch. The flavors just work. The best part? You can make several batches (or one giant batch) for less than a single order at the restaurant!

Key Ingredients

• Persian Cucumbers – also known as “mini seedless cucumbers” in some stores. These are tiny cucumbers that resemble pickles. They are super crisp, mostly seedless, have a thin skin, and taste fresh and slightly sweet. They are what makes this dish so incredibly fresh and good!
• Salt – the only time salt is used in this recipe is to draw out excess moisture from the cucumbers. After that, you will want to rinse the salt off completely.
• Chili oil dressing – The chili oil dressing at Din Tai Fung is light, savory, garlicky, and slightly sweet. I make this sauce with rice vinegar, soy sauce, chili crisp oil, garlic, sugar, and sesame oil (just a little bit because the sesame oil can be overpowering). It is debatable whether or not Din Tai Fung uses soy sauce in their dressing, so it can be left out if you want but I like to keep it in.
• Garnish – for the garnish, if you are aiming to be just like Din Tai Fung, top the “cucumber tower” with a thin slice of garlic and a thin slice of a Fresno pepper.

How to Make Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad

1. Cut cucumbers evenly – Cut the cucumbers into thick chunks, a little more than 1/2″ thick.
2. Remove excess moisture – You do this by sprinkling salt over the cucumbers and letting them rest for a few minutes while the salt draws the moisture out. Rinse the cucumbers thoroughly, drain well, then pat dry with paper towels.
3. Make the chili oil vinaigrette – Combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, chili crisp oil, sugar, sesame oil, and garlic in a bowl. Whisk until sugar dissolves. For full ingredient amounts, see the recipe card below.
4. Marinate – Pour the mixture over the cucumbers in a bowl or container with a lid. I like using plastic deli containers but a bowl with plastic wrap over the top works great too.
5. Serve – To serve like Din Tai Fung, layer the cucumbers into 3 layers like a pyramid, with the top layer only having a single cucumber on top (see picture above). Place a thin slice of garlic on the top cucumber and a little slice of fresno pepper on top of the cucumber. Pour remaining marinade (if any) over the top.

Tips and Suggestions

Cut the cucumbers evenly – Especially if you are wanting to imitate the style of Din Tai Fung. Make sure each cucumber is cut exactly to the same thickness, that way they can easily be stacked into the classic tower that they are known for.

“Lite” Soy Sauce – For more of an umami flavor without making the cucumbers taste too salty, try using “Lite” soy sauce instead of regular.

Taste as you go – This dish can easily be thrown out of balance between too sweet and too salty depending on what brands of ingredients you are using. Adjust to your tastes by tasting as you go.

Add sesame oil sparingly – Sesame oil, especially, can overpower this dish. Some sesame oils are much stronger than others. Start with a small amount and increase as needed.