Yep, we're still "veggin' out......" Here's another recent vegetable dish. I'm always on the look-out for something a bit different, perhaps the use of an ingredient that I'm familiar with, but had never thought of using in a type of cuisine. I saw a recipe in Fuchsia Dunlop's tome on Hunan cookery, The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, that caught my attention because it used Perilla. The original recipe uses zǐ sū (紫苏), purple perilla, but the only perilla I could find in the quantity I wanted and in good shape was Korean Perilla, which I substituted for purple perilla. What little info I could find on the use of Perilla in Chinese cuisine was a reference to Perilla Leaf Porridge as a remedy for common colds, and its many medicinal uses.
This turned out to be a remarkable dish. The cleansing flavor of the cucumber, along with the spice of dried chilies and chili oil (substituted for fresh chilies), the salty umami of soy sauce, along with a touch of sour from the clear Chinese rice vinegar. The vinegar also added a bit of sweetness to which I added a touch of sugar(my own addition), sesame oil added a nice rich nuttiness to the dish, which was all wrapped up with a good amount of minty-anise-herbaceous perilla, which really cut through the spice.
In her book Fuchsia Dunlap calls the cooking method used for this dish as "jian", pan-frying, versus "chao", stir-frying. And indeed to get the best result, you begin by laying the cucumber in a single layer in the wok to attain a nice golden color. Be aware that the yield is about 60% of what you started with.
As usual, I've taken a few liberties with the recipe.
Pan Fried Cucumber with Perilla
1 Large English Cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise, seeded, and cut crosswise into 1/4" slices
3-4 Cloves fo garlic chopped
2 tsp Premium quality light soy sauce
1-2 tsp Clear Chinese Rice vinegar
1/2 tsp white sugar
2 dried chilies deseeded
1 Tb Chili Oil w/flakes
1/3 Cup of perilla leaves, cut into a chiffonade
1 tsp Sesame Oil
3 Tb peanut oil
- Heat wok over high heat until smoking
- Add oil and swirl around wok. Add dried chilies and scald, but do not burn.
- Add the cucumber slices in a single layer around the wok and fry until the cucumber slices start turning golden brown
- Turn cucumber slices as necessary.
- Once slices start developing color, add sugar, garlic, and chili oil, and stir fry.
- When dish becomes fragrant, splash in soy sauce and vinegar, and mix well.
- Remove from heat and mix in perilla leaves. Stir in sesame oil and serve.
I'll have to try this. I love perilla and cucumbers. I have plenty of purple perilla in the yard. I've substituted it for betel leaves to grill with beef and that works quite nicely too.
Posted by: Wandering Chopsticks | Tuesday, 31 March 2009 at 08:14 PM
Wow that's amazing you were able to get such a great char on cucumbers! I've made a sliced cucumber stir-fry before but nothing like this. Thanks as usual Kirk!
Posted by: Dennis | Tuesday, 31 March 2009 at 08:15 PM
Hi WC - This one was so easy, I felt guilty about posting it.
Hi Dennis - Lining the wok with the cucumber really got it off to a good start.....
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 31 March 2009 at 08:25 PM
hey kirk! i was just going to do cucumbers in scallion oil tonight, but i might do this instead. i'm sad, i have no idea what i've done with my copy of dunlop's cookbook....it's somewhere....
Posted by: santos. | Tuesday, 31 March 2009 at 09:15 PM
I grew up with only eating cucumbers raw, but this sounds delicious!
Posted by: kat | Wednesday, 01 April 2009 at 12:23 AM
You cook some amazing things. It looks wonderful, but sounds weird.
Posted by: ed (from Yuma) | Wednesday, 01 April 2009 at 07:16 AM
Hi Santos - I hope you find it, I love her cookbooks.
Hi Kat - I grew up eating cucumbers only raw as well....I plan to mention that in a future post....along with eating cooked lettuce.
Hi Ed - The "strangeness" factor was why I tried out the recipe, which turned out to be pretty good.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 01 April 2009 at 07:41 AM
Those are beautiful pictures and the recipe sounds great. I noticed that I have an explosion of purple shiso in my backyard herb garden (they're even sprouting in my cymbidium orchids) along with green. Looks delicious and healthy
Posted by: foodhoe | Wednesday, 01 April 2009 at 01:47 PM
Hi FH - Man, you all have green thumbs.....I can't even grow crabgrass!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 02 April 2009 at 07:30 AM
Wonderfully fragrant, I'll have to try this one Kirk.
Posted by: Jeff C | Thursday, 02 April 2009 at 11:08 AM
Hi Jeffrey - It seems like an odd combination, but turned out rather well.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 02 April 2009 at 11:39 AM
i've never had a cucumber that was cooked before...sounds interesting. what exactly is the difference between the purple and korean perilla?
Posted by: sawyer | Thursday, 02 April 2009 at 10:31 PM
Hi Sawyer - They are different species, and the flavor is a bit different as well.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 03 April 2009 at 07:19 AM
I grew up eating Korean perilla and love it! It grows like the dickens, we used to have it in our backyard and we could not keep up with the yield! Looks tasty and a really interesting combo of flavors!
Posted by: Marie | Sunday, 05 April 2009 at 06:15 PM
Hi Marie - Welcome, and thanks for commenting. This dish came out much better than I initially thought it would.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 06 April 2009 at 07:29 AM