Even when you cook for a living, you need the occasional easy win. Cooking is the love of my life; my true passion. But that doesn’t mean I’m above a convenience meal or two. Particularly when it is as delicious as this Smashed Cucumber Dumpling Salad with Peanut Kimchi Dip. This dead-simple salad features veggie dumplings seared to golden perfection and tossed with smashed cucumber, kimchi, shaved red onion, and jalapeño rings dressed in a simple soy vinaigrette. To add to the low-key luxury, I invited peanut butter and kimchi juice to the party. Sound good? Good! Let’s make it!
A large part of my job is to romanticize the act of cooking. And I do believe cooking deserves romantic attention. It’s a fantastic hobby that stretches your capacity in all sorts of unexpected ways. But even if you love something, it is not always what you want to do. You know? And when these moments hit, I open my freezer door and reach for a bag of frozen dumplings. And no, these are not delicate, handmade beauties I squirrelled away for a rainy day. These are the ones I painstakingly pulled from the freezer at my local Asian grocery store. Yes, you got me, I am a mere mortal.
Let’s start by making the dressing and the dip, since neither is time nor temperature-sensitive. The dressing features garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili crisp, and a whisper of sugar and salt. Simply whisk everything together in a small bowl and set it aside. And the best part? Getting the dressing out of the way first gives the flavours time to meld and get to know each other.
Next up, the Peanut Kimchi Dip. I love this recipe because, like the salad dressing, it only requires some light stirring. And one of its ingredients is derived from prepping one of the salad components. The kimchi juice we’re using in this dip is the result of squeezing the kimchi we’re going to put in the salad. I love it when things are symmetrical like that.
I don’t love a soggy salad, so if I’m adding kimchi to greens, which I do a lot, I like to drain it. And I feel it is particularly important in a cucumber salad because, well, cucumbers are wet enough… I know that sentence grossed me out, too. So, in the process of making the dip, we’re also prepping our salad. The convenience is off the charts at this point, and I should probably add that the kimchi is store-bought. I’m going to assume you’re cheering.
Place peanut butter in a bowl. I used natural smooth peanut butter, and it worked a treat. If you only have Skippy or the like, feel free to use it, but omit the honey – the peanut butter will be sweet enough. To the peanut butter, add the kimchi juice, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and fresh ginger. Stir everything together, and you should have a semi-thick sauce that will readily cling to a dumpling. Also, this dip could easily moonlight as a dressing for peanut noodles; do what you will with that information.
With the dressing and dip out of the way, we can move on to the dumplings. Heat a little neutral oil in a non-stick skillet, then add your dumplings. Once they’re humming along, add a little water and immediately cover them. This will trap the steam, so the dumplings will cook evenly while they toast on the bottom. Leave them to cook for roughly 10-15 minutes.
While the dumplings are on their way to becoming their best selves, we can move on with the salad. And by “move on,” I mean smashing a cucumber, chopping it, and placing it in a bowl. To the cucumber, add some sliced mini cucumber, the kimchi you drained earlier, some thinly sliced red onion, a handful of jalapeño rings, and some sesame seeds. Add in your finished dumplings and pour the dressing over top. Toss to coat. Divide the finished salad across a few bowls and garnish each with additional sesame seeds and fresh cilantro. And that is truly it. Easy, right?!
And that’s everything you need to know about this Smashed Cucumber Dumpling Salad, a.k.a the delicious, easy win you need on any given Tuesday.
Enjoy!
Smashed Cucumber Dumpling Salad with Peanut Kimchi Dip
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Place the garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chili crisp, salt, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Whisk to combine and set it aside.2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2½ tsp rice wine vinegar, 2½ tsp granulated sugar, 2 tsp chili crisp, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sesame oil
- In a separate bowl, whisk to combine the peanut butter, kimchi juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, and honey. Set it aside as well.⅓ cup natural smooth peanut butter, 2 ½ tbsp kimchi juice, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp fresh ginger, ½ tbsp honey
- Heat the neutral oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the dumplings to the skillet. Add 1/4 cup of water to the hot skillet and immediately cover the pan to trap the steam. Let cook for 10-15 minutes or until the dumplings are tender and the undersides are golden brown and crisp.24 frozen veggie dumplings **, 1 tbsp neutral oil
- While the dumplings are cooking, smash the English cucumber with a mallet or a rolling pin until it breaks into quarters. Coarsely chop the smashed cucumber and place it in a large bowl. Add the mini cucumbers, red onion, jalapeño, and kimchi.1 English cucumber, 2 mini cucumbers, 1 red onion, 1 jalapeño, 1 cup kimchi
- When the dumplings are done, add them to the bowl as well and pour the salad dressing over top. Add the sesame seeds and toss to coat.1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- Spoon the salad into bowls and garnish with the cilantro, additional sesame seeds, and the rose petals, if using. Serve immediately with the Peanut Kimchi Dip on the side.1/4 cup fresh cilantro, wild rose petals
