Now that I don't always have other people to cater for, my daily cooking often consists of a quick and simple vegetable dish served with noodles. I had never even thought of cooking cucumbers until I had them in a Chinese restaurant with chicken but it struck me that the European aversion to doing so is quite irrational - a low-level taboo even.
Ingredients
1 cucumber
2 tbsps black bean and garlic sauce
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsps vegetable oil
50 g peanuts
1 tbsp soy sauce
6 spring onions
Method
- Cut the cucumber into thick matchsticks.
- In a wok or large frying pan, combine the black bean sauce and the ginger with the vegetable oil, and fry gently.
- After a minute or so, add the peanuts, fry for another 30 seconds or so, then add the cucumber.
- Turn up the heat and fry for another 3 minutes, add the soy sauce and chopped spring onions, cook for a further 30 seconds and serve.
