Szechuan Pickled Cucumber

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

                1   pound                 pickling cucumbers

                1   Tablespoon       salt

                1   teaspoon           granulated sugar

                4   Tablespoons     soy sauce

                1   tablespoon        chili oil

             1/3   cup                     red rice vinegar

                1   teaspoon           ground Szechuan peppercorns

PREPARATION:

Julienne the cucumbers. Place in a colander and sprinkle with the salt. Let the cucumbers sit for 15 minutes. Remove from the colander and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange the cucumbers in a shallow glass baking dish.

While desalting the cucumbers, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Lay the cucumbers out on a shallow glass baking dish. Pour the pickling mixture over. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

 

 

From Rhonda Parkinson

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/r/pickledcucumber.htm

 

 

 

Szechuan Cucumber

Yield: 1 Servings

Ingredients

                1   pound                 non-waxed, slender pickling cucumbers,

                                                        each cut into 4  to 8 wedges
                1   Tablespoon       salt
                2   Tablespoons     soy sauce
                2   Tablespoons     brown sugar dissolved in
         2-1/2   Tablespoons     vinegar
                2   Tablespoons     ginger root, finely shredded
             1/3   cup                     toasted sesame oil
                1   teaspoon           szechuan peppercorns
                2                              fresh hot peppers

                                                        (one for decoration, one finely shredded)
                4                              dried hot peppers

Instructions

Marinate the wedges of cucumber with 1 Tablespoon of salt for 20 minutes, rinse briefly in cold water, drain and pat dry with a paper towel.  Arrange the cucumber wedges on a dish and sprinkle the shredded hot pepper and ginger over them. Heat the sesame oil, stir in the Szechuan peppercorns and the dried hot pepper.  Cook over medium heat until the fragrance is released. Immediately pour the hot mixture over the shredded ginger and hot pepper.  Add the mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and sugar to the cucumbers, place in refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.  It is then ready to serve.

 

Notes:

Remove the dried peppers before serving. This dish can be kept in the
refrigerator for a few days. The number of hot peppers can be varied
according to taste.  One can add 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic or 1 Tablespoon of shredded green onion for variation.  If non-waxed cucumbers are not available, European cucumbers will do.