Dish of Cucumber Salad, Yunnan
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Cucumber Salad, Yunnan


China, Yunnan, far Northwest
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 1-1/2 #
**
40 min
Yes		 An interesting salad from the Tibetan corner of Yunnan. It's dressed quite differently from the norm, but I find it a bit addicting. It does have chili bite, but you can control that.

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Cucumbers (1)
Salt
-- Dressing
Chili Flake (2)
Sichuan Peppercorns (3)  
Oil
Sugar
Soy Sauce
Black Rice Vinegar (4)
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Make   -   (40 min - 20 min work)
  1. Cut the ends off the CUCUMBERS. Smack them (presuming Persians or similar) with your kitchen mallet, then turn 1/4 and smack some more. They should split into thirds or quarters. Cut the strips into 1-1/2 inch lengths. If some are too wide, split them with a knife.
  2. Place Cucumbers in a bowl and mix them well with the salt. Let them sit for 30 minutes or so. This will prevent the salad from getting watery when standing.
  3. Mix Chili Flake and Sichuan Peppercorns in a heatproof bowl.
  4. Heat Oil to 350°F/175°C, then let cool down to 290°F/140°C, or a couple degrees higher. Immediately pour into the Chili Flakes and give a stir. Let cool well. See also Comments.
  5. Drain Cucumbers (don't rinse).
  6. Mix all Dressing Items in a small jar. Shake the dressing up well and pour over the Cucumbers. Toss to coat well.
NOTES:

  1. Cucumber:

      If at all possible use thin cucumbers like Persian or Japanese that don't have to be peeled and seeded. The instructions above presume Persians 6 inches long. If all you have is the standard waxed green blimps, you will have to peel and seed them, then weigh them. For details see our Cucumbers page.

  2. Chili Flake:

      In Yunnan, Erjingtiao Chilis would probably be used, but they are not much available in North America, so we generally use Korean Chili Flake. For details see our Korean & Japanese Chilis and Chinese Chilis pages.

  3. Sichuan Peppercorns:

      Fruits of a prickly ash tree, now again legal in the US so long as they are lightly toasted. These are nothing at all like black pepper. For details see our Sichuan Pepper page.

  4. Black Rice Vinegar:

      [Chinkiang Vinegar]   for details see our Vinegars page.

  5. Comments:

      This salad is from the Tibetan corner of Yunnan, a bit west of Shangri La. The process of treating the Chili Flake with hot Oil is precisely the way Chili Oil is made, so if you have a big batch of that you can use 6 Tablespoons with lots of the sediment. Temperatures are fairly critical here, and the best way to make sure they're right is with an infra red thermometer, but an "instant read" probe thermometer will also work. For details on these see our Kitchen Thermometers page.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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