← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 500 g cucumbers (2 small or 1 large)
• ½ tsp Salt
• 3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar (or rice vinegar)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp Chilli oil (optional)
• 2 tbsp Coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped (optional)

Method

1. Lay a cucumber on the board and whack it along its length with the flat of a cleaver or a rolling pin until it cracks open. Cut it into bite-size chunks and scrape away any watery seeds. Repeat with the rest.
2. Toss the cucumber with the salt in a colander and leave for 10 min to draw out the water. Shake well and pat dry.
3. While it drains, stir the garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil together until the sugar dissolves.
4. Just before serving, toss the cucumber with the dressing, then spoon over the chilli oil and scatter with coriander.

Tips

• Dress it at the last moment: dressed cucumbers keep weeping water and the sauce gets diluted.
• Thin-skinned Lebanese, Persian or Japanese cucumbers are the crunchiest.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Omnivore's Cookbook RecipeTin Eats The Woks of Life