One Hour Spicy Pickled Cucumber

Happy Chinese New Year, my friends!

If you have someone Chinese in your family, you will no doubt have been overfed at some sort of New Year celebration. This is our version of Christmas.

For Chinese New Year meals, I usually play the part of mum's sous chef and get to contribute a few small dishes to the main meal. This year, my contribution was a spicy pickled cucumber. 

I learned this recipe from a new friend last year and it has been part of my menu whenever we have braised pork, dumplings, BBQs and any dish that requires a nice fresh component. 

What I love about this recipe is that it is so quick to make and impressive to look at. In fact, I love this recipe so much that it has replaced my very own.

Laoganma Spicy Chili Sauce and Chinkiang Vinegar

The secret to this great tasting pickle is some Laoganma Spicy Chili Sauce and Chinkian Vinegar.  The Vinegar is a type of black rice vinegar from Jiangsu Province in China and tastes like a more earthy version of balsamic vinegar. 

Laoganma is probably one of the most well known spicy chili sauces in China and is my favourite addition to dumpling sauces, noodles and stirfry dishes. It is a fragrant blend of chilis, soy beans and other goodies ready made for your meals (note: I am not being sponsored by them or anything, I am just a major fan girl).

Step 3: adding all the ingredients

If you're having a meal involving many rich dishes, why not give this recipe a go? 

One Hour Spicy Pickled Cucumber
(Adapted from a family recipe)

Ingredients:

1 telegraph cucumber
2 Tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar
3 Tablespoons light soy sauce (I prefer Pearl River Bridge brand)
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 Tablespoon Laoganma spicy chili sauce

Method:

1. Thinly slice the cucumber on the diagonal, 2/3 way through.
2. Turn the cucumber over and thinly slice 1/2 way through.
3. Place the cucumber into a seal-able tupperware container and add the remaining ingredients.
4. Close the lid and shake vigorously.
5. Place container in the fridge for 1 hour, removing halfway through to shake again.
6. Prior to serving, cut the cucumber right through with a pair of food scissors to separate it into bite size pieces.

Hot and Sour Soup

I've recently been caught in a very busy time at work - I'm talking almost 60 hour weeks and coming in on the weekends type stuff. I usually have a pretty good work-life balance, but it was thrown out the window when we encountered some very tight deadlines.

I complained about this sudden increased workload to my friend but, instead of getting sympathy like I had expected, I got a "this is not normal for you? I always work 60 hours a week!" 

That shut me up quick.

Luckily, the busy spell is now over and I can share one of my favourite quick meals with you. The bright flavours wake me up and makes it a perfect pick-me-up after a long day. Best of all, it doesn't take very long to make!

My hot and sour soup is mostly made up of staples I have at home - eggs, a stock cube, bamboo shoots and tomatoes and coriander from the garden. The only thing we had to buy on the day was tofu. 

The stock and preserved vegetable packet provides enough salt to the dish, so the only extra flavour that is added is a tablespoon of white vinegar and a table spoon of chili oil to give the soup its hot and sour notes. The bamboo shoots and preserved veggies bring a nice crunch while the tofu brings a softer touch.

Pretty much every Chinese family has their own take on Hot and Sour Soup and this one is just my very own variation. My mother likes to add pork in hers, but I eventually phased that out to make it suitable for my many vegetarian friends. 

What do you like to cook after a long day out? Do you have your own variant of Hot and Sour Soup?

Hot and Sour Soup
A Lucyeats Original

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegetable oil
4-6 medium sized tomatoes, sliced into wedges
1 Tbs Shaoxing wine
250g bamboo shoots (in strips)
1 80g packet of preserved vegetables (in strips)
3 cups stock (use chicken or vegetable)
4 medium sized eggs, beaten
2 tsp cornflour
2 Tbs cold water
1 Tbs white vinegar
1 Tbs chili oil
250g block of tofu, roughly sliced into thick strips
white pepper and chopped coriander to serve

Method:

1. Heat up the vegetable oil in a deep saucepan or wok over medium heat. 
2. When the oil gets hot, Add the tomatoes and stir until the skins start to come off. Add the Shaoxing wine and let cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the preserved vegetables, bamboo shoots and stock and bring to a boil.
4. Slowly drizzle the beaten egg into the soup, stirring as you go, to create light egg ribbons.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the cornflour and cold water into a slurry. Add the slurry until the soup thickens into the desired consistency.
6. Add the chili oil and white vinegar to taste.
7. Turn off the heat and add tofu.
8. Ladle into bowls and add white pepper and coriander to serve.

Chinese Braised Pork Ribs and Pickled Cucumber

One of the highlights of my day is to wind down while cooking dinner. I spend my commute home trying to remember what is left in the fridge and figure how to combine them into something that is dinner worthy. Sometimes, the combinations are pretty average but, every once in a while, the stars align and the result is something worth sharing.

My Chinese Braised Pork is something I'm reasonable proud of as it wowed both Jason and our flatmate, John Dory. Because of its ability to save me a lot of time, the pressure cooker my parents gifted me is fast becoming a favourite. Unlike traditional braising methods, you don't have to wait hours for delicious, melt-in-your-mouth meat. It's a kitchen item that I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat!

Paired with the pickled cucumber and a bowl of hot steamed rice, it is a delicious meal that won't take too much time out of your day. 

Tell me, dear reader, what is your favourite kitchen tool and what is your go-to quick dinner meal?

Chinese Braised Pork Ribs and Pickled Cucumber
A Lucyeats original

Ingredients:

Braised Pork:

2 Tbs vegetable oil
750g thick cut short ribs
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
2 star anise
1 stick cinnamon, roughly broken up
10 whole black peppercorns
1 Tbs crushed rock sugar
1 Tbs rice vinegar
1/4 cup light soy sauce
2 cups water

Pickled Cucumber:
1 tele cucumber, sliced or diced into bite sized pieces
2 1/2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs water
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs sesame oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 medium sized fresh red chili

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and sear the ribs on all sides. Do this in batches, if required. Remove the ribs to a separate bowl.
2. Add Shaoxing wine to de-glaze the bottom of the pot. Use a spatula to remove any bits stuck to the bottom.
3. Return the pork and add the remaining ingredients. 
4. Lock the lid to the pressure cooker and cook on high until pressure is reached.
5. Turn the heat to low and cooker for a further 20 minutes.
6. Make your pickled cucumber by combining all the pickled cucumber ingredients together and chill in the fridge while you wait for your pork to cook.

Stir Fried Egg and Tomatoes

Everyone, at some point in time, has had the horrific experience of opening the pantry to find it bare -even worse than that is when it is full of things that don't go together. If you're anything like me after a long day, you're usually too tired to go to the supermarket let alone trying to come up with a delicious meal on the spot.

Luckily for me, my parents taught  me a delicious dish that only requires two main ingredients that most people have lying around and, the best thing is that it is incredibly simple and takes almost no time at all. It's the perfect thing for a busy working person or a strapped-for-cash student. I could cook this on my own at the age of 7 so it's pretty much fool proof!

Not pictured: eggs

Despite what the picture above suggests, the two main ingredients are tomatoes and eggs -the photo is just a photo of the ingredients that were sourced from my garden (wouldn't it be cool if you could grow eggs?!). 

Although this may sound like a strange combination, be assured that the result is amazing. The scrambled eggs provide a nice bite while the tomatoes practically melt into a sweet, yet tart sauce.

Stir fried egg and tomatoes is a dish that can be found in homes all over China and comes in many different forms. All recipes include salt, pepper, spring onions and a little sugar to bring out the tomato's natural sweetness. The recipe I've posted below is one that I have tweaked to my own specific tastes -Shao xing wine to give a little boozy flavour, soy sauce (instead of salt) to add a bit of colour and coriander to make it more fragrant.

The best thing about this dish is that it comes together in less than 15 minutes and is my go to recipe if I'm ever in need of a quick lunch or some comfort food. The recipe is incredibly simple to remember and is easy to tweak to your own tastes so you don't have to memorise a massive list of ingredients.

Stir Fried Egg and Tomatoes go extremely well with some steamed rice and is best enjoyed piping hot. It's also quite nice cold which makes it nice for a packed lunch. 


What is your go to recipe?

Lucy's Stir Fried Egg and Tomatoes (Serves 2)

Ingredients:
3 large eggs, beaten
2 large tomatoes, sliced into rough wedges
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 spring onion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine)
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon white pepper
handful of coriander, chopped

Method:
1. Add vegetable to a hot a wok or large frying pan and swirl to coat the base.
2. Pour in eggs and scramble until they are just cooked but still light.
3. Throw in tomatoes and cover for 2-3 minutes, until they start to release their juices.
4. Add spring onion, soy sauce, cooking wine, white pepper and sugar and mix until combined.
5. Stir through coriander and let the sauce reduce a little before transferring to a serving dish.
6. Sprinkle a little extra coriander over the top.
7. Enjoy piping hot!