Cucumber is a very important vegetable for the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom, so the country's culinary experts strive to use it in their dishes as often as possible. The Chinese recipe for smashed cucumbers, an original snack with an equally original name, has become widespread throughout the world. The national creation is a fairly simple appetizer that can whet your appetite as well as any aperitif.
What are broken cucumbers?
Broken cucumbers or snack Pai Huanggua in their homeland are positioned as a dietary food. The process of preparing it takes no more than 20 minutes, and a special beating technology allows the vegetable to marinate faster. The beaten fruits are seasoned with a pre-prepared aromatic sauce containing a considerable amount of seasonings.
Before you start cooking, regardless of the specific recipe, you must carefully select cucumber fruits. One of the requirements for a vegetable is that it must be a long-fruited variety. The expression “Chinese cucumber” itself has already come into common use; when it sounds, long fruits with or without pimples immediately come to mind. The sweetish taste and small seeds inside the fruit make it an excellent product for culinary purposes and allow you to follow the traditions of Chinese cuisine.
The cooking recipe requires a clear sequence of steps. The cucumber is washed and cut lengthwise into two parts. The seeds are extracted from the core using a teaspoon. To beat the vegetable, use a kitchen hammer; less often, use a rolling pin or a wide knife.
The halves, cut and freed from seeds, are laid out on a cutting board, cut side down. You need to beat them off without fanaticism, listening to the characteristic crackling sound. As soon as the sound disappears, you need to complete the process, otherwise the vegetable will turn into a mushy mass. Ready-to-beat cucumbers are cut into pieces of the required size, marinated and served to the table in the form of a decorated dish.
Advice! “During beating, cucumber juice may splash in different directions. In order not to dirty the kitchen, you can first wrap the fruits in a plastic bag.”
Chinese smashed cucumbers with roasted peanuts in honey spicy dressing
Everyone loves honey. Children and adults. Boys and girls. Russians and Chinese. So let’s add variety to the broken snack with this component! They will become more sophisticated, like the national dress of China. And it will add subtlety to the taste. Like delicate porcelain.
Let's not dream! Let’s quickly create this eastern miracle!
Ingredients:
- 8 cucumbers;
- 6 tbsp. l. black rice vinegar;
- 4 tsp. any honey;
- 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
- 2 tsp. sesame oil;
- 8 cloves of garlic;
- 6 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
- 80 gr. peanuts;
- cilantro by eye;
- salt to taste.
Cooking technology:
1. First of all, let's take garlic. Clean it and chop it finely. Now take a frying pan and place it on medium heat. Pour sunflower oil into a bowl and place garlic in it. Cook it until you smell the enticing aroma from the pan. Turn off the stove.
2. Prepare a deep bowl and pour the mixture from the frying pan into it. Season it with honey, sesame oil, salt, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Mix everything thoroughly. The dressing for the dish is ready!
3. Let's move on to the main ingredient. Cut clean vegetables into 2 parts and cut them into thin slices. You don't have to remove the seeds if you wish.
Place the pieces in a bag. And knock them down. For example, the back of a wide knife. Add the chopped vegetables to the dressing. Mix everything and cover with a lid. Place the dish in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. He needs to marinate better.
4. While the oriental delicacy is ripening, let’s prepare peanuts for it. If you have a raw component, you need to peel it, place it in a dry frying pan and fry until slightly golden brown. About 10 minutes.
If the peanuts have a dry top crust remaining, it must be removed.
Add the prepared nuts to the snack. Then chop the washed cilantro into smaller pieces. Add it to the salad as well. If you don't like these greens, you don't have to add them.
5. Now cover the dish with a lid and put it in the refrigerator again, literally for 20 minutes. Once the time has passed, serve the dish on the table.
This Asian delicacy will have a fiery crunch with peanuts and vegetables, tempting you to try more! You will have an unforgettable Chinese snack experience! Jin ma yong! That is, bon appetit.
How to cook crushed cucumbers in Chinese
There are a great many recipes for dishes based on chopped cucumber halves. When it comes to Chinese cuisine and pickling, one thing you should not forget is that authenticity cannot be achieved without the use of soy sauce and seasonings.
Cucumber salad with cilantro and cashews
A delicious salad recipe that will be an excellent addition to the dinner table will require:
- cucumbers – 2 pcs.;
- fried cashew nuts – 20-25 g;
- light soy sauce – 15 ml;
- sugar - half a teaspoon;
- garlic – 2 cloves;
- spicy oil – 10 ml;
- rice vinegar -15 ml;
- Sesame oil;
- a bunch of cilantro;
- capsicum or bell pepper.
The fruits are washed, cut lengthwise, and seeds are removed from the core. Using the handle of a knife or a kitchen hammer, the cut pieces are beaten well. After this, the cucumber halves are cut into 2-3 parts and remain on the cutting board.
A bunch of cilantro must be washed in cold water, the stems and wilted leaves must be cut off. The remaining greens are finely chopped with a knife. The garlic is chopped or grated. To follow tradition, it is better to choose the first method of preparing garlic.
Salad dressing should be prepared from soy sauce, spicy vegetable and sesame oils, sugar, and vinegar. All components are mixed in a small container. Cucumbers are laid out in a salad bowl, sprinkled with garlic, cilantro, and filled with dressing. The nuts are poured out immediately before the final mixing. You can add finely chopped red pepper or make a salad with bell pepper.
The salad bowl is served to the table and the delicacy prepared according to this recipe looks quite original.
Lightly salted crushed cucumbers
This delicious appetizer is easy to prepare and requires the following ingredients:
- long cucumber – 3 pcs.;
- red hot pepper – 1 pc.;
- soy sauce – 4 tbsp. l.;
- rice vinegar - 3 tbsp. l.;
- garlic – 4 cloves;
- Sesame oil;
- salt (optional, since the sauce already adds saltiness to the dish);
- sesame seeds.
The recipe for lightly salted cucumbers requires a certain sequence of steps. First you need to wash the fruits, cut them diagonally into small pieces (no more than a centimeter in thickness). Next, take a thick bag, chopped cucumber pieces are sent there along with soy sauce, rice vinegar and salt. The bag is tightly closed and beaten well with a rolling pin. The main thing is not to overdo it and turn everything into mush.
Hot pepper and garlic cloves are finely chopped and added to the bag with the broken pieces after 20 minutes. All components of the future snack are mixed again for a minute and sent to marinate in the refrigerator. After an hour, fragrant pickled cucumbers, seasoned with sesame oil and seeds, can be served. The dish design option is shown in the photo.
Cucumbers in soy sauce
To prepare this simple dish you will need:
- long varieties of cucumbers – 3 pcs.;
- soy sauce – 3 tbsp. l.;
- sugar – 3 tsp;
- apple cider vinegar – 1 tbsp. l.;
- garlic – 4 cloves;
- dried chili pepper - a couple of pieces;
- Bay leaf;
- salt.
According to the recipe, from the specified amount of ingredients you can make a delicacy for 6 servings.
The cucumbers are washed well, the butts are removed, the fruits are lightly beaten and cut into cubes. Place chopped cucumber cubes in a small saucepan, add salt and half a teaspoon of sugar. All ingredients are mixed and the pan is placed in the refrigerator for an hour.
While the vegetable cubes are being salted, you need to prepare the marinade. The remaining sugar, salt and vinegar are thoroughly mixed, sauce, dried chili, crushed garlic and bay leaves are added.
After an hour, the cucumbers are removed from the refrigerator, the released juice is drained and the prepared marinade is added to the pan. Mix everything well, close the lid and return to the cold for the whole night.
Advice! “You can use cling film to cover the pan more tightly and marinate better.”
A cool, savory Chinese-style appetizer that will be a great addition to a hot lunch dish.
Cucumbers in garlic sauce
Another recipe for a spicy dish, executed in the Chinese style. For preparation you will need the following ingredients:
- cucumber – 4 pcs.;
- onion – 1 pc.;
- apple cider vinegar – 1 tsp;
- garlic – 3-4 cloves;
- granulated sugar – 1 tsp;
- red pepper and salt to taste;
- vegetable oil;
- sesame.
The specified amount of components should be enough for 4 servings. The peculiarity of the recipe is the fact that soy sauce is not used here. However, the spiciness characteristic of Chinese cuisine is preserved.
The butts of the cucumbers are removed, the fruits are cut into small strips, salted and left for 15 minutes to saturate. The released juice is drained. Cut the onion into half rings and add them to the cucumbers. Also used are vinegar, a pinch of red pepper, crushed garlic, sugar and salt. Sesame seeds must first be fried in a small amount of oil, then pour the contents of the frying pan into the cucumbers. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the container is sent to the refrigerator. In an hour, the garlic salad will be ready to serve. The finished dish looks something like the one shown in the photo below.
Beaten cucumbers with cashew nuts (recipe from a Chinese restaurant)
It was evening. While walking around the city, we wandered into a Chinese restaurant. The menu was full of funny and strange names. And without thinking for a long time, we ordered meat, and a chopped appetizer to go with it. Yes, it was interesting to look at the unfortunate vegetables. However, the appetizer really surprised us. No. They didn't cry or bleed. And they were delicious served with cashews. You'll lick your fingers!
The taste of the green vegetable turns into salty soy sauce, seasoned with the sourness of rice vinegar, and garlic and nuts play the final chord in this delicious song! And the bright aroma prompted us to quickly devour the oriental delicacy. Do you want to try restaurant food? No, you don't need to run to a catering establishment. You can cook it at home! And here's how.
Ingredients:
- 500 gr. cucumbers;
- 1 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
- 1 tbsp. l. rice vinegar;
- 1 tbsp. l. sesame oil;
- 0.5 tbsp. l. Sahara;
- 5 cloves of garlic;
- 50 gr. cashew nuts;
- 1 chili pepper;
- cilantro to taste.
Preparation
1. Our song will begin with the main ingredient. Wash them and place them on a board, cut the vegetables into halves.
Peel the fruits and cut them into cubes. All that remains is to take a transparent bag and place the vegetables in it. Pound them with a rolling pin.
During the process you should hear a kind of crackling sound.
2. Next, open the bag and drain the juice from it. Transfer vegetables to a bowl. Drizzle them with soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar. Add sugar here. Mix the ingredients well.
3. Let's move on to the remaining components. Peel the garlic and finely chop the cloves. Then place them in a dish.
4. Now cilantro. Rinse it and chop it not very finely. Add greens to ingredients.
If you can't stand cilantro at all, replace it with parsley.
5. Now it's the chili pepper's turn. Be sure to wash it and cut it into the pieces you like best. Season your dish with pepper.
6. Now about cashews. Rinse them thoroughly. Take a frying pan with a thick bottom. Place the component in one layer in a bowl.
And fry it over low heat for about 10 minutes.
The nuts should give a nice golden hue. This means they are ready.
Add the nuts to the oriental dish and mix everything thoroughly. They can be slightly crumbled first.
Be sure to prepare your favorite meat or rice to accompany the chopped vegetables. These dishes will make good company for each other. And if there are strong drinks at your feast, then a cold dish will serve as an excellent appetizer. No worse than Russian pickled cucumbers. Check it out from your own experience.
What to serve with broken cucumbers
Since the appetizer is positioned as Chinese, it should traditionally be served with rice. It can be rice with onions and eggs, fried rice or just boiled cereal. In our country, a spicy pickled appetizer would go well with boiled potatoes, fried meat and shish kebab. There are quite a few recipes for chopped cucumbers, among them there are also those that require serving the dish separately.
Chinese cucumber appetizer with wine vinegar and beef
What we love about cold appetizers is that they have a lot of freshness and intriguing sourness. So it is in broken food. After all, we will complement it with aromatic wine vinegar in conjunction with savory beef.
If you have guests on your doorstep, they will be stunned by how quickly the snack is prepared. And its very taste. Therefore, let’s quickly begin the culinary experiment.
Ingredients:
- 400 gr. cucumbers;
- 400 gr. Fillet of beef;
- 3 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
- 2 tbsp. l. wine vinegar;
- 3 tbsp. l. sesame oil;
- 0.5 tbsp. l. Sahara;
- 4-5 cloves of garlic;
- 1 onion;
- 1 bell pepper;
- vegetable oil by eye;
- salt and ground black pepper to taste.
Preparation:
1. Take washed cucumbers. Cut them into pieces on a cutting board. Beat the vegetables and sprinkle with salt and sugar. Place them in a bowl.
After some time, the fruits will give juice, which will need to be drained.
2. Let's move on to the bow. Peel it, place it on a board and cut the vegetable into half rings. Place it in a bowl.
3. Then take the bell pepper, rinse it and place it on the cutting board. Using a knife, cut the vegetable and remove the seeds. Chop it into thin strips. Soon he will fulfill his mission.
4. Now garlic. Finely chop the peeled slices and leave aside for now.
5. It's the turn of the meat. Rinse it thoroughly in warm water. Then place the fillet on the board and use a sharp knife to shred the beef into strips. Place the frying pan over high heat, add vegetable oil and fry the juicy pieces in the bowl.
Cook the fillets for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Assembling our dish. Place the chopped vegetables in a nice bowl. Mix it with onion, garlic and bell pepper. And send hot meat on top along with vegetable oil. Salt and pepper the dish.
7. Season the appetizer with wine vinegar and soy sauce and mix everything well. Now cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator.
This dish will be a juicy accompaniment to literally any side dish. And to Russian, American, Italian. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to be curious when mixing colors of flavors. I assure you, your plates will remain empty!
Video on how to cook crushed cucumbers with sesame seeds in marinade
To make the appetizer more piquant and truly Chinese, the vegetables must be pickled. In this case, they will be well salted and perfectly saturated with all the juices of the recipe components. The recipe itself is not complicated, it just takes a little longer to steep.
More tomatoes have been added here; they are present in the recipe for additional taste and beauty. Decide for yourself whether it is worth adding them.
The marinade is not particularly different from those already proposed: you will need soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar. If you don’t have one in the house, then you can take the usual 9%.
The result can be seen in the picture. Looks very tasty. And believe me, it not only looks, but also eats.
