Stir-Fried Cucumber, Pork and Golden Garlic Recipe

As an in between season time of year, the end of September means there are pears and hard squash as well as beautiful ripe tomatoes and cucumbers. I planted two cucumbers this summer and they keep producing -- like zucchinis but with some restraint. Every few days, I check on the plants and there seems to be hidden cucumbers growing below the shade of the plants' broad leaves.

Unlike zucchinis, cucumbers are extra stealthy hanging on their vines and getting bigger by the hour, it seems. The week that I neglected to check on the cucumber vines, I discovered three (3!) gigantic ones laying low and growing big and fat. At first, we ate daily cucumber salads -- Chinese smacked cucumber salad plus my Viet take with shrimp in Vietnamese Food Any Day. I grated the cucumber for South Asian raita. I thickly sliced cucumbers to serve as a cooling side for Vietnamese main dishes. But I needed to change things up. The cucumbers in the photo below weighed nearly seven pounds total. More were growing in the garden.

Homegrown cucumbers have a sweet crispness that's unrivaled by what are sold at supermarkets. I'm not expert on the growing cucumbers and selected Chinese and Japanese varieties at our local nursery. What would the cucumber be like cooked? I've pan-fried cucumber with purple perilla and added cucumber to a southern Vietnamese seafood noodle soup. But what other ideas were out there?

Turns out cucumbers are a cooling (yin) food but the Chinese enjoy it hot -- often in stir-fries with pork. I'd seen other vegetarian cooked cucumber recipes, but this one for cucumber with pork and fried golden garlic won me over. It's loaded with personal story and built-in cooking lessons. The recipe comes from Grace Young's remarkable award-winning 2010 book, Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge. It's a delicious homestyle stir-fry that doesn't require fancy ingredients. You can make it in a wok or large skillet.

A Beginner's Stir-Fry for 10 Year Olds

Cucumber and pork are a common homestyle stir-fry in Hong Kong, according to Amy Yip, who showed Young the recipe for the book. Yip taught herself to cook for her family when her mother fell ill. At 10 years old, she mastered wok cooking through fuss-free recipes like this one. Cucumbers are affordable so Yip smartly chose to start her cooking journey with the crisp vegetable.

Through lots of practice, Yip learned to work the wok for the sake of perfectly stir-fried cucumber. Here lessons included not adding water to the pan during cooking to avoid mushy results. Cucumber has enough moisture to make a light sauce in the pan that goes well with rice. And, there's no need to cover the pan to facilitate cooking. The cucumber becomes crisp tender when cooked uncovered, she advises.

She was a brazen young cook because the recipe also required careful frying of garlic to golden bit. I do it differently than Yip and Young and start the garlic out in cold oil and bring it to a gentle fry.

The overall lesson is that stir-frying cucumbers is something we should all do more often. Compared to stir-fried zucchini, cucumber had a delicate crunch and sweetness.

To Peel or Not to Peel Cucumber

Typical slicing cucumbers -- the kind sold at most supermarkets that feel waxy, have very thick skin. I would peel those. My homegrown ones had thickish skin when they matured. But for the stir-fry, I peeled a 1 ⅓ pound cucumber and left the skin on half of the big boy. The other half, I removed strips of peel for striped effect.

I could have gone either way. It's really up to you and your cucumber. In the recipe below, I suggest English cucumber but you may choose another kind. I also did not seed the cucumber. If moisture is an issue, then scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon.

Stir-Fried Cucumber, Pork and Golden Garlic Video

Here's a high-speed version of what went down in my kitchen when I made the stir-fry the other day. If you want a detailed look at frying garlic, check the video posted for the Easy Burmese Tea Leaf Salad.

There are more cucumbers growing so this won't be the last cooked cucumber dish I make. But this stir-fry is totally in my repertoire now. I hope it becomes part of yours too.

Print Recipe

Stir-Fried Cucumber, Pork and Golden Garlic

This is a fine main dish for 2 or 3 people but you could serve 4 by adding another dish (maybe a salad or soup). Rice is the perfect pairing for eating the stir-fry. This recipe was adapted from Grace Young’s Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge (2010, Simon & Schuster).

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: cucumber, garlic, stir fry

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• ½ cup peanut or vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 12 ounces lean pork shoulder or butt
• 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 teaspoons soy sauce
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 8 slices ginger, smashed
• 1 very large English cucumber or similar kind of cucumber, trimmed, halved lengthwise and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices (seeded, if you like; about 3 cups total)

Instructions

• Pour the oil into a 14-inch flat bottom wok or small saucepan. Add the garlic. Heat over medium-low heat, and after things gently sizzle, fry for a few minutes, shaking the pan as needed, until light golden. Pull off the heat and let the garlic continue gently frying until golden. Pour through a mesh strainer set over a bowl to drain. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the oil for stir-frying. Save the rest for cooking other things. If you used the wok, wash and dry it before stir-frying.
• In a shallow bowl, combine the pork, cornstarch, 1 ½ teaspoons of the soy sauce, suga, and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1 ½ teaspoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon cold water.
• Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat until a bead of water vapor rises within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in 2 tablespoons of the reserved garlic oil, add the ginger slices, then stir-fry 30 seconds, or until the ginger is fragrant. Push the ginger to the sides of the wok, carefully add the pork, and spread it evenly in one layer in the wokl.
• Cook undisturbed for 1 minute, letting the pork begin to sear. Then stir-fry 1 minute, or until the pork is lightly browned but not cooked through. And the cucumbers and stir-fry 30 seconds, or until well combined. Sprinkle on the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, then pour in the reserved soy sauce mixture along the sides of the wok. Stir-fry 1 minute or until the pork is just cooked and the cucumber begins to soften. Stir in most of the fried garlic, saving some for garnish. Transfer to a large dish, shower with leftover fried garlic and serve.

Notes

Don't want to cook pork? Stir-fry boneless skinless chicken thigh instead.

Never miss a recipe! Subscribe to the VWK Newsletter!