Chinese Cucumber Salad

Chinese Cucumber Salad

Traditionally, Chinese cucumber salad is made by heating cucumbers in a spicy mixture of sesame oil, chili peppers, and Szechuan peppercorns. In this quick and easy recipe for cucumber salad, cucumbers are tossed in a red wine vinegar dressing spiked with minced ginger and chili flakes.

Preparation time : 35 minutes
Difficulty             : Very Very Easy
Serves                 :   4

Ingredients :

5 pickling Cucumbers (You might not find these in India, just use Young and fresh cucumbers)

2 teaspoons Salt

3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar (If you can't find one, use the regular Vinegar

1 tablespoon Light Chinese soy sauce (bottled in Super Markets)

1 1/2 teaspoons Sesame oil (use this for the special nutty flavour)

2 1/2 tablespoons Brown sugar

1 teaspoon minced fresh Ginger, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon Red pepper flakes, or to taste

Method :

1) Cut the ends off the pickling cucumbers. Cut in half, then lengthwise into quarters, and into strips about the width of French fries. You need not peel the skin if the cucumbers are young and fresh, otherwise peel them off.

2) Place the cucumber strips in a colander and sprinkle the salt over. Let the cucumbers sit for 30 minutes.

3) While the cucumbers are desalting, make up the dressing.

4) Whisk together the red wine vinegar, soy sauce,  sesame oil, brown sugar, fresh ginger, and red pepper flakes.

5) Lay out the cucumber strips in a dish and pour the dressing over. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the cucumbers for 4 hours or overnight.

6) Serve the cucumber salad cold.

Note: I find that weighing down the cucumbers during salting so they release more water keeps them crisp and helps prevent a watery dressing from collecting at the bottom of the bowl. I used a saucer. At the end of salting, pat dry with paper towels to remove the excess water.