Pickled Cucumber

Cucumber salted until it gives up its water, then dressed, so it stays crisp instead of going limp in the bowl.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers, about 600 g
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

Method

1. Split the cucumbers lengthways and scrape the seeds out with a spoon. The seed bed holds most of the water that would otherwise dilute the dressing.
2. Smack the halves with the flat of a knife or a rolling pin until they crack and split, then break them into rough 3 cm pieces. Torn faces take up dressing; a clean cut slice does not.
3. Toss them with the salt and leave in a colander for 20 minutes. A surprising amount of water will run out.
4. Rinse the salt off briefly and pat the pieces dry. Skipping the rinse leaves them too salty once the dressing is on.
5. Stir the vinegar and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved, then add the garlic, sesame oil and chilli.
6. Pour the dressing over the cucumber and turn it through. Leave it 15 minutes before serving, and eat it the same day — by tomorrow it will have softened.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes