Chinese Cucumber Salad

According to Chinese records, cucumber was introduced to China around 100 B.C. (during the Han Dynasty) from countries to the west by way of what later became known as the Silk Route, later taken by Marco Polo. For six to seven hundred years, cucumber bore the name hu gua, meaning “foreign melon”, but a later name, huang gua, meaning “yellow melon” is now more commonly used. People across China make a variation of cucumber salad as it's an esay and delicious appetizer to meals.

This side dish takes about 20 minutes to prep

Ingredients

Note: The ingredients can be adjusted to your liking!

• Mini cucumbers (avoid cucumbers with seeds)
• Salt (make cucumber crunchier)

For the dressing:

• Regular soysauce
• Rice vinegar
• Chili Oil
• Sugar
• Sesame Oil
• Sesame Seeds
• Green Onions

Instructions

• First on a cutting board, place cucumber between two chopsticks that you don’t mind nicking up (like disposable takeout chopsticks).
• Then make thin diagonal slices on the top on angle. Flip the cucumber over and do the same on the other side. Do not cut them in on a straight angle or the spiral will not work.
• Then cut cucumber into halves.
• Next sprinkle salt over cucumbers and gently massage into them.
• Let cucumbers sit in the salt for 5 minutes at room temperature to remove excess moisture (no more than 10 minutes or they will break down).
• Rinse with cold water at least 3-4 times to completely remove the salt.
• Strain excess water and set aside.
• Then in a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients.
• Finally pour the dressing over cucumbers and gently mix.
• Serve and enjoy!

Detailed Cutting Instructions

• 
  First on a cutting board, place cucumber between two chopsticks that you don’t mind nicking up (like disposable takeout chopsticks)
• 
  Then make thin diagonal slices on the top on angle. Flip the cucumber over and do the same on the other side. Cut in the opposite direction. Do not cut them in on a straight angle or the spiral will not work. Alternatively, thinly sliced cucumbers will work fine as well
• 
  Cut cucumber into halves
• 
  Now you have spiral cucumbers. Transfer to a large bowl. Refer to video below for better visuals

For the Experts ~

• Short on time? Thinly slice the cucumbers and skip the spiral!
• Use chopsticks to make fun spiral cucumbers: Use a pair of chopsticks that you don’t mind slightly nicking up, like takeaway chopsticks. Make sure to slice the cucumbers on an angle or you won't get the spiral effect.
• Rinse salted cucumbers well! Because we’re adding more sodium, it’s super important to rinse off the salt from the cucumbers after they have been sitting in it. This step is crucial, or you will have very salty tasting cucumbers.
• Combine the sauce before adding cucumbers.
• For more flavor, let the cucumbers marinate for another 10 minutes in the sauce in the fridge before enjoying.

Storage

• Leftovers will last up to 3-4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Please note with time, the cucumbers will become saltier due to the dressing.
• Freezer friendly? I would not suggest freezing this cucumber salad as the freezer air over softens the cucumber texture.

Photo Grid

Recipe Websites

• Omnivore's Cookbook I enjoy how the recipes states the special additions or modifications to a receipe at the very top so the user can understand what kind of cooking experience they are about to have. It also has very good authentic cultural tips to get the best flavor out of the Chinese dishes. Example: knowing which vinegar to buy.
• NYT Cooking NYT Cooking receipe is always very clean with just the bare minimum needed information. It doesn't feel personal and it doesn't need to be. It's just informative. The photos are also very unified which brings the website a sense of cohesion.
• Lady and Pups I love this website's navigation and recipe set up. It's very clean which makes the photos stand out well. For some reason, the light font makes the initial commentary enjoyable rather than skipable.

Non Recipe Websites

• Creative Review I think this website illustrates one of the design strategy I aim to go with for this assignment: simple enough to showcase the photography. The bold modern design enhances the browsing experience instead of detract from it.
• Httpster.net Another design blog, Httpster serves to highlight the designs it's trying to expose the user to. Therefore, the design easy to navigate and visuall engaging. One thing that caught my eye was the side bar that looked like a ruler but actually serves as a timeline. It was automatically striking.
• Emergence Magazine I love the use of the funky typeface combined with the san serif. This website feels like it has a delicate balance to it's moving parts and it feels immersive and calming.

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