Smashed cucumber

Name: Smashed cucumber
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Cantonese
Ingredients: Cucumber 2, about 500 g; Garlic 4 cloves; Salt 1 tsp plus ¼ tsp; Black vinegar 2 tbsp; Light soy sauce 1 tbsp; Sugar 1 tsp; Sesame oil 1 tsp; Chilli 1 bird's-eye chilli; Coriander / cilantro a few sprigs

拍青瓜

Blanched and poachedVegetablesWeeknightFor guestsKids like itEasyhands-on 10 min · start to finish 40 min

“Blanched, a pour of soy. Clean and simple.”

Ingredientsserves 4

街市Cucumber· thin-skinned, small-seeded; Lebanese cucumbers2, about 500 g

街市Garlic· finely chopped4 cloves

雜貨舖Salt· a teaspoon of coarse salt to draw the water, a quarter for the dressing1 tsp plus ¼ tsp

雜貨舖Black vinegar2 tbsp

雜貨舖Light soy sauce1 tbsp

雜貨舖Sugar1 tsp

雜貨舖Sesame oil1 tsp

街市Chilli· sliced, optional1 bird's-eye chilli

街市Coriander / cilantroa few sprigs

Method

Wash the cucumbers and cut off both ends; Hong Kong cooks rub the cut end against the body until a white froth appears, which takes away the bitterness.
Put each cucumber in a bag or under a tea towel and smash it with the flat of the cleaver so it cracks open along its length, then tear or cut it into bite-size pieces; a cracked cucumber takes the dressing and a sliced one does not.
Toss with a teaspoon of coarse salt and leave ten minutes to draw water; rinse and drain well.
Stir the vinegar, soy, sugar, sesame oil and a quarter teaspoon of salt until the sugar dissolves, then add the garlic and chilli.
Toss the dressing through the cucumber, chill thirty minutes, and scatter the coriander before serving.

Take care

Contains sesame (the sesame oil), soy and wheat (the soy sauce). The cucumber and garlic are eaten raw, so wash the cucumber well.

The story

A dish that came south from the northern cold-plate table and is now on every Hong Kong family's summer table because it needs no stove; HK01 files it as a ten-minute cold dish, and the TamJai noodle chain's smashed cucumber became the side dish everyone tries to copy at home. The smash is the point: a cut cucumber will not take the dressing and a cracked one will.

Same technique

Blanched choy sum

Lettuce in oyster sauce

Amaranth in stock with century and salted egg

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.