Name: Hot and Sour Cucumbers (酸辣黃瓜)
Yield: Serves 4 as a single appetizer or an accompaniment to meat; more with an assortment.
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: ½ teaspoon salt; 2 firm slender cucumbers, preferably unwaxed, a little over 1 pound; 3 tablespoons oil; 2 to 4 dried chili peppers; 1 large clove garlic, lightly crushed and peeled; 1 tablespoon light soy sauce; 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar; 2 tablespoons sugar

Preparation info

Serves
4
as a single appetizer .

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Key to Chinese Cooking

By Irene Kuo

Published 1977

About

Tumbled in hot oil only long enough to brighten the skin and turned with seasonings briefly, these cucumbers are chilled before the vinegar is added so that the acidity will not discolor the vivid green skin. Cold, crisp, and tangy, they are refreshing in look and taste.

Ingredients

2 firm slender cucumbers, preferably unwaxed, a little over 1 pound
3 tab

Method

Wash and dry the cucumbers; trim off the ends and cut them in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds with a small spoon and cut each half lengthwise into 4 strips. Gather up the strips and cut each into 4 sections. Since the cooking time is extremely short, measure out the soy sauce into a cup and combine the sugar and salt in another.

Heat a skillet over high heat until hot; add the oil