stir-fried cucumber with ground pork
If you’ve only been eating cold cucumbers, you’ve only unlocked half their potential! Stir-fried cucumbers are juicy, meaty and still very refreshing. You can swap other ground meats, change up bits of the sauce or use different nuts. The important thing is those stir-fried cucumbers.
yield 4 servings
stir fry
2 English cucumber or 8-10 Persian cucumbers
1 bunch hakurei turnips or red radishes, trimmed
1 large bunch scallions
2 T grated ginger
1/2 ts red chili flake
2 ts shaoxing wine
2 ts soy sauce
2 ts fish sauce
1 ts cornstarch
1 lb ground pork
2 ts neutral oil
1/2 cup cashews, roasted and roughly chopped
sauce
3 ts water
3 ts soy sauce
1 ts sweet soy sauce
3 ts black vinegar or rice wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
2 ts sugar
1 ts cornstarch
2 ts sesame oil
for serving
cooked jasmine rice
chili crisp, optional
recipe prep
Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise (leave whole if they’re Persian cukes) and thinly slice into 1/8-inch-ish slices. Transfer cucumbers to a large bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon if morton’s). Let salted cucumbers sit for 30 minutes while you prep everything else.
Quarter the turnips (cut more if the pieces are bigger than an inch) and set aside. Separate the dark green scallion parts from the light green and white parts. Thinly slice dark green parts on a diagonal. Thinly slice light green and white scallion parts into rounds. Keep separate and set aside.
Combine ginger, chili flakes, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch and sesame oil and whisk until smooth and cornstarch is fully incorporated. Add ground pork and mix until evenly combined.
Combine all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and whisk until completely smooth. Set aside.
Squeeze cucumbers to release excess liquid and spread out on several layers of paper towels. Place a paper towel over top and press down to remove as much liquid as possible.
Heat a wok or large nonstick skillet on high. Once hot, add 2 teaspoons neutral oil and heat for 15ish seconds until almost smoking. Add turnips and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until browned in spots and softened a little. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add white and light green scallions to the pan, stirring frequently for about 30 seconds. Add pork, pressing into a thin layer and let cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute. Break up pork and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until pork is cooked through and crispity golden in plenty of spots, about 7 minutes. Remove pork with a slotted spoon (leaving drippings behind) and set aside.
Add cucumbers to the pan, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots, 2-3 minutes. Return pork and turnips to the pan and toss to combine. Add sauce and toss to evenly coat. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until cucumbers look glossy and the sauce has thickened to coat everything and create some browned crispy bits. Remove from heat; add dark green scallions and cashews and toss to combine. Serve with rice and chili crisp oil as desired.
do it ahead If you have the time or forethought, combine the pork mixture 12-24 hours ahead and chill to let all the flavors meld together.
