e M i G f x: July 2010

Chinese Cucumbers (Not Quite Pickles!)

Sooo, I do not like pickles. But! I like vinegar soaked 黃瓜!! I like it a lot yum yum. I recently started craving it, so I made a couple batches last week. I made a big batch tonight for tomorrow's festivities!

So first, cucumbers! I bought a 2 lb. bag of Persian cucumbers from Costco. I picked a bag with more skinny cucumbers (versus less big cucumbers).

Bring your cucumbers home proudly, wash 'em, and trim the ends.

Then, slice as desired. I tried a new slicing way, for a more bite-sized product. I usually do cut it in half and quarters the long ways but today I thought I'd try this way.

After cutting the cucumbers and putting them in a big, wide bowl, mince garlic to throw in too yum! I went with 4 cloves.

After slicing and dicing, they look like this!

Delicious. Pour the minced garlic onto the cucumbers. Then add vinegar, and fill up to about halfway high. This is a very specific measurement, I know. ;)

Now, add sugar. I added 3 heaping tablespoons of sugar.

Adding sugar looks just like what you expect.

Cover your masterpiece, and shake-shake-shake! I had to be careful because I used a glass bowl with plastic wrap. Typically I like to use those resealable plastic containers, but I was too lazy to make two batches and made one big batch. :)

After being plenty shaken and stirred, put your cucumbers into the fridge overnight to release their liquids and soak up the vinegar, garlic, and sugar deliciousness!

I like to taste it in the morning and add vinegar or sugar as needed. I thought about adding some chili paste but forgot to buy some.

Oh!! That reminds me, add sesame oil too! And shake again! I better go do that now. Be right back.

Okay! I forgot to take a pic but I added about 4 shakes of sesame oil. I smelled the vinegar and decided to two circles of rice wine vinegar too.

We'll taste it in the morning an see how it went! :)

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Labels: cucumbers, food, garlic, pickling, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar, 黃瓜

Basil!

I am close to having some basil! He has lived through a falling off the ledge but look how well he's doing! :)

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Labels: basil, plants, sprouties

Bug Bites!

I had the pleasure of attending a super fun party on Saturday night! But while having all this fun, I didn't realize I was the Thanksgiving feast for a bunch of buggies.

Like during my childhood, I confirmed that I am still very allergic to bug bites! After a couple days of being so swollen that my feet and cankles could not fit in my work shoes, the swelling has finally gone down yay! Here is my progress today: