The humble cucumber gets a raw deal in salad land.
When people talk about the dull salads of their childhood, cucumber more than often than not gets tossed into the mix with iceberg lettuce and wedges of tomato. Flashbacks of the bottle of Kraft French dressing in the door of the fridge of my childhood home are coming to me now. That was a standard in Australian refrigerators of the 70s.
In Vietnam, the cucumber is more ubiquitous in salads than lettuce. It commonly features as a pickle on the side of wok-cooked noodle dishes like pho xao (stir-fried beef) and com rang (fried rice) - sweet, salty and with a hint of chili. Freshly prepared when the cucumber is crisp and firm, it is very satisfying.
But I wanted to turn my cucumbers from mundane to delectable on Christmas Day, into something festive and classy on our table. So I hacked at my green bumpy friends to create thin but rustic slices, to which I added the best delicate sprigs of mint from my herb drawer, half a Spanish onion mandolin thin and a sparse flek of chili. In a glass tumbler I ferociously forked together a concoction of lime juice, sugar and fish sauce to pour and coat each slice of cucumber.
On the garden balcony we sat, a cool cucumber salad and a little Asian-inspired prawn cocktail to start the eating on Christmas Day, me in my apron, glass in hand, the bird in the oven.
Later there was dancing and chocolate.
It was a merry Christmas.
Hi, beautiful blog you have here. And I love cucumber. Am always eating it. I like to juice it too-it's great for the skin.
Posted by: Dia | 15 January 2010 at 03:04 AM
sigh...I miss Vietnam
Posted by: sharon vandermay | 15 January 2010 at 10:18 AM
You had Green Christmas!! I've cooked Thai green curry on Christmas Day :)
Posted by: the lacquer spoon | 16 January 2010 at 02:23 PM
I need more salad recipe dear!!you just make it nice mint leaves with cucumber!I think the person who is near and dear one for you is LUCKY sure!!So testy foods you have!
Posted by: cartucho r4 nintendo ds | 06 February 2010 at 04:59 PM
I have a huge appetite when it comes to eating healthy foods like salads for the reason I don't know.
Posted by: Removalists Australia | 05 March 2010 at 02:01 PM