Cucumber pork stirfry

The garden has gone gadzooks out there, and I'm overflowing with Chinese cucumbers. I made a few sushi vinegar-sesame cucumber salads, which I really like, and discovered that Chinese cucumbers are crisper and crunchier than what we're used to.

They're also WAY more prolific.

I had a bushel basket or so left, and had eaten all the cucumber salads I wanted for awhile. That started me wondering. What else do Chinese people do with cucumbers? So I checked in with Aunt Google. Landsakes was I surprised. It seems the more normal way to eat cucumbers in Asian countries is to cook them in a stir-fry!

Do what you say? Cook cucumbers? Are you nuts!?!

I will admit I was very dubious at first, and I am a little bit nuts, too, so looking at this bushel basket full of cucumbers, I decided what the heck? Why not, if I don't like it, I don't have to do it again.

Let me tell you I will be doing this again soon. Like tonight soon. Stir-fried cucumber is not just good. It's GREAT.

These are amazing! How come we've never done this with a cucumber before? If you can get your hands on a Chinese cucumber at the market, you have just got to give this a try.

Pork Cucumber stirfry

First get a batch of fluffy white rice going, then chop up the cucumbers and any other vegetables you like into bitesize pieces, like so:

I did sweet gypsy peppers, yellow squash, cucumber, a little minced ginger, minced garlic and a handful of Thai basil. So fragrant! Oh and hot peppers, too. Of course. I like everything hot hot hot.

Marinate the pork in a mixture of equal parts soy and cornstarch, just enough to coat the pieces of meat. I'd say about 1 T of each will coat four servings of meat about right.

For sauce, measure out 4 T of yellow bean sauce (see left for characters) for about four servings. Add a tablespoon of xiao xing wine to your sauce. This is very similar to sherry.

Mix water and cornstarch separately, to serve as a thickener if needed.

Now that everything is assembled you're ready to go. If you've got a wok great, but don't sweat it if you don't. A heavy cast iron skillet can work. Position it so half is over the fire and half is not. That way you have a cool spot and a hot spot.

I like to stirfry the meat first. Once it's about halfway done, I push it to the cool spot. Then I add the longest cooking vegetables first, stirring them quickly around in the hot spot until they just start to brighten. Off they go to the cool spot where I mix them in with what's already there. I keep adding each vegetable, using the same process, until finally I've got it all in the pan together.

I stir fry the garlic and ginger last in a bit of oil on the hot spot, taking care not to cook more than 30 or so seconds. Garlic makes a burned rubber smell when stirfried in vegetable oils after about 60 seconds. (but not so in butter!)

I stir everything all around together and then dump in the beanpaste sauce. After it bubbles up, I add a little cornstarch mixture to thicken as needed. About this time, I hear an unexpected knock at the door and who is it? It's my neighbor, Peggy. Just in time for dinner!

I served this over rice, and both of us were amazed at just how good a stir-fried cucumber really is!