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A pair of wooden chopsticks over a green bowl filled with cucumber bean curd salad.

Spicy Cucumber Bean Curd Salad

5 from 2 votes
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 1 bowl
Calories: 341kcal
Author: Kelly
Cost: $1.06
Spicy, garlicky cucumber bean curd salad is a classic Chinese cold dish. The bean curd in this refreshing, high-protein vegan recipe can be subbed by Zeroodles.
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Ingredients

Salad Base

  • 3 oz bean curd strips (*can sub with 45g dried bean spaghetti (eg. Zeroodles pasta))
  • ½ English cucumber (see Note 1)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1–2 tbsp chili crisp or chili oil
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce or maggi sauce

Optional Toppings

  • 1 tsp shichimi togarashi
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped scallion

Instructions

  • Boil the bean curd strips or soybean spaghetti for 2 minutes, then drain. (No need to rinse.) Alternatively, you can place them with 1 cup of water into an Instant Pot and set on high pressure for 0 minutes, followed by Quick Release.
  • (Skip this step if you're using pre-sliced bean curd strips or spaghetti.) Slice the cooled bean curd sheets into ½- to ¼-inch wide strips. Add to a salad bowl.
  • Slice the cucumber into ½-inch thick pieces. Add to the salad bowl.
  • Pound garlic into a rough mash using a pestle and mortar. Alternatively, you can use a garlic press or just mince it up really fine, but I find mortar and pestle to be the quickest and easiest option.
  • Add garlic, chili crisp, and soy sauce to the bowl. Mix everything together.
  • Add any toppings if you wish!

Notes

  1. Instead of cucumber, I've also made this salad with lettuce and spinach. (I prefer to blanch them first because I like the cooked versions better than raw in this dish.)

Nutrition

Calories: 341kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 881mg | Potassium: 473mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 989IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 179mg | Iron: 4mg