Crispy Cucumber Stir Fried with Pork
A new way of introducing cucumber in a stir frying dish- pickled first before frying. Removing the water content is a lovely way to enhance the crunch texture. At the same time, this can avoid too much water spoil the taste.
Ingredients
- 4 small cucumbers cut into thick circles or 2 long ones.
- 1/2 tsp. Salt for pickles
- 1 cup minced pork preferably with some fat
- 2 tbsp. Cooking oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 thumb ginger
- 1 red Thai pepper optional
- a very small pinch of salt
- 1/2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tsp. sugar
Instructions
Prepare the cucumber
- Peel the tough skin from the cucumber if you are using a long Asian cucumber, or trim the ends if you're using a small cucumber. Cut into thicker circles, around 0.5 cm.
- Sprinkle with salt, mix well, and set aside for 1 hour. Squeeze the water out forcefully.
Stir Fry
- In a wok, coat with some oil and fry the minced pork until crispy and golden brown. This may take several minutes. If you find lots of oil rendered out, scoop out the extra.
- Add garlic and ginger, and fry until aromatic. Season with salt, sugar, white ground pepper, and light soy sauce. We season at this stage because the cucumber is already salted during the pickling process.
- Add the pickled cucumber slices and the Thai peppers. Mix quickly, and serve hot.