Chinese Style Pickled Cucumber Salad

This is one famous cucumber salad in Chinese style, the other one is 拍黄瓜, Smashed Cucumber Salad, which I have written the recipe. This cucumber salad is well known for how the cucumber is cut. 蓑衣 in English means Straw or Leaf Raincoat. The cucumber would look like traditional Chinese rain cape! Well, anyway, you need a bit imagination.

Ingredients –
Cucumber, I like to use mini cucumber, 4, about 350g;
Red chili pepper, 1, optional, for garnishing;
Garlic, 2 cloves;
Chinese red pepper, 1tbsp;
Dry red chili, 4;
Light soy sauce, 1tbsp;
Shaoxing rice wine of any Chinese cooking rice wine, 2tbsp;
Sugar, 3tbsp;
White rice vinegar, half cup;
Salt, 2tsp;
Water, half cup.

How to do –
1. In a saucepan, add in Chinese red pepper, dry red chili, light soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, salt, sugar and water. Bring to boil and simmer for five minutes in medium low heat;
2. Then add in vinegar and garlic, turn off the heat, set aside and let it cool down. Don’t add the vinegar at first otherwise it would lose a bit sourness. And I prefer to add the garlic at last so as not to lose its spiciness;

3. Now let’s prepare the cucumber. Cucumber washed and dried with kitchen towel;
4. Place one cucumber in a cutting board, slice the cucumber in about 30 degree angle but DON’T cut through;
5. If you are uncertain, use a pair of chopsticks and set next to the cucumber, in this way you wouldn’t cut through the cucumber;

6. Turn to the uncut side, do the same cutting again. It is not that complicated as it looks;

7. Put the cucumber and the red chili pepper in a food box and pour in the pickled sauce. There’s no need to cover the cucumber with the sauce since cucumber would release quite a lot of juice;
8. Keep in fridge and serve it the other day. You could cut the cucumber into big bite size or just serve it whole, it could be easily torn apart with chopsticks.