Food Friday: Shanghai Cucumbers

Okay, so I realize it's been like 2 or 3 weeks in a row now that I've hit you up with a zucchini recipe. I have more in the hopper, but I figured I owed you a break. Don't get too excited, though... it's a recipe for the other vegetable of which I have an abundance: my beloved cucumber.

I really love PF Chang's. I'm not usually really big on chain restaurants, honestly, because usually the quality sucks, the food tastes "chain-y", and the service isn't so great either. Especially "ethnic" chains... I mean, really, we all know that PF Chang's isn't real Chinese food. But it's so good, right? Kung pao chicken? Hot & sour soup? Fughettaboudit.

Anyway, one of my favorite dishes at PF Chang's is called Shanghai Cucumbers. It has always seemed so simple, really, and I've been meaning to come up with my own homemade version for a long time. Well, now that I have like 15 pounds of cucumbers to use up, I figured it was an opportune time to give it a shot. I used lemon cucumbers for this, but any cucumber will work just fine. While it tastes really similar, I'm not 100% sure this is exactly like the PF Chang's version. But it's still damn good, so who cares? I don't.



Again, I made this one up, so the measurements are approximate. But, you should get the idea.

Shanghai Cucumbers

1 cucumber, chopped in about 1 inch pieces

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Drizzle the sesame oil over the chopped cucumber pieces in a small/medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients together and toss. Serve slightly chilled. (I keep my cukes, sesame oil and soy sauce in the fridge anyway, so it's kind of already chilled anyway once I make it.)

P.S. Remember the cobbler recipe I posted twice? I know, I know... I still feel guilty about that. While I'm not going to torture you with posting again, I do want you to know that I made it again this week using freshly picked nectarines and Chester blackberries. Mmm.