Everyone knows the taste of fresh crunchy cucumber, the spicy taste of pickled and pickled cucumbers. But not everyone has tried the cucumber … fried. Moreover - not everyone suspects the existence of such a dish! This version of cucumber cooking originated from China. Fried cucumbers are a part of many exotic dishes.
In China, fried cucumbers are no surprise. This method of processing the product is widely used in Chinese cooking. He is also known in Korea. Fried cucumbers have also taken root in fusion cuisine. Cooking options for this exotic, adapted to European taste, have also appeared.
Cucumbers are fried in hot oil for just a couple of minutes. Do not overcook them!
Cooking fried cucumbers takes half an hour. All you need to take:
- cucumbers - 5 pcs.;
- starch - 1 tbsp. l.;
- vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l.;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- sesame seeds - 1-2 tsp;
- soy sauce - 1 tbsp. l.;
- ground chili pepper - a pinch;
- salt - ½ tsp.
The cucumbers should be washed and cut in half. You can also cut them into oblong cubes of 0, 5 by 2 or 1 by 3 cm, especially if you are going to use them as an ingredient for a salad or other dish.
Place vegetables in a bowl, sprinkle with salt. They will give juice. Drain the juice, rinse the vegetables with warm water, then dry with napkins. Dip the cucumbers in the starch. Cut the garlic cloves into thin slices.
Heat oil in a deep skillet or wok. Place the garlic and chili peppers in the oil. Fry over high heat, stirring constantly. Enough 30 seconds. Add sesame seeds, cucumbers and a spoonful of soy sauce immediately. Fry the cucumbers for 2-4 minutes over high heat.
Ideally, the fire should not just be strong, but a column of open flame. The cook holds the pan over the fire and shakes it. But in a home kitchen, unlike in a restaurant, such experiments should not be carried out.
There are various variations of this dish. For example, cucumbers can be cut into thin slices. These circles or ovals should not be fried for more than a minute, as they are too thin.
Another interesting option that slightly changes the taste of fried cucumbers and adapts them to the European taste is aging before frying for 20-30 minutes not in salt, but in a sweep of salt and vinegar with sugar. It turns out something like a marinade. It is important not to overexpose the cucumbers so that they do not become pickled.
Salt cucumbers fall asleep so that they give juice. If this is not done, these vegetables will simply turn into gruel during frying.
You can fry cucumbers by not only dipping them in starch, but also dipping them in batter. Well-dried cucumbers, in which there is not much water left, can be fried over high heat and without rolling.
Among the spices with which you can fry cucumbers are chunks of red pepper and ginger. If you are using ginger, the amount of pepper and garlic can be reduced slightly to enhance the flavor of the spice.
How to serve fried cucumbers? You can just as a snack. Can be mixed with other vegetables, meat (cut into small pieces and fried over high heat), soy sprouts, buckwheat noodles. Can be fried with carrot shavings.
Fried cucumbers can often be seen in salads, for example, with shiitake mushrooms. Fusion recipes allow you to combine fried cucumbers even with cheese and other ingredients familiar to European cuisine.
