Tiger Salad (Chinese Cucumber Salad)

Cutting

1. Tiger salad is usually made with the so-called “English” cucumber. You can buy it in any supermarket here: long dark green fruits with glossy skin, laid out in rows in crates. As I understand it, it’s a hybrid that needs no pollination and is grown in greenhouses. These cucumbers are less “watery” than the ones sold at the market. One such cucumber makes two bowls of salad.

2. Cut the cucumber into thin strips. The way to cut it is much discussed and even argued over. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter much. You can use a grater that makes thin strips, or simply cut the cucumber with a knife. It will be coarser, but that doesn’t matter for this salad. It also means less moisture. Decide for yourself what you like best. For the salad to look “striped”, cut carefully and don’t mix the cut vegetables.

   
   

3. Cut the green onion tops separately. With a sharp knife, at a very sharp angle and very obliquely, so you get “feathers” that are even more slanted than penne pasta.

4. Carefully put the cut green onion into a separate bowl, trying not to mix it.

   

5. For the salad, also take a few hot peppers of different colors. This is an appetizer with a noticeable heat that doesn’t actually burn. Slice the peppers on the diagonal into thin rings.

   

6. Wash a bunch of fresh cilantro and pat it dry.

7. Cut off the bottom of the stems up to the first leaf and chop the rest very coarsely, literally 2.5-3 cm pieces. To reduce the moisture, you can even tear the cilantro with your fingers.

   

Assembly and dressing

1. It’s best to mix the salad in fairly deep bowls or salad bowls.

2. Carefully lay the cucumber, green onion, cilantro and chilies into the bowls one after another.

4. Sprinkle the vegetables with a pinch of salt.

5. Very carefully, trying not to disturb the direction of the stripes, toss the vegetables. The striped structure should be preserved.

6. Make the dressing. It’s easy and everything is available in stores. Mix 0.5 tbsp of rice vinegar (sushi vinegar works), 1 tsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of brown sugar (5 g). Stir well until the sugar dissolves.

7. Pour 1-1.5 tbsp of sesame oil into the cup. It has a special flavor, and I don’t recommend replacing it with anything else. Stir the dressing once more.

8. Pour the dressing over the salad.

9. At mealtime, mix all the ingredients so they’re evenly coated with the dressing. The salad doesn’t need chilling. What’s more, at room temperature the aroma of the vegetables, herbs and dressing opens up. The salad is super light, fragrant and, surprisingly, very refreshing.

   

   You can easily vary the amount of herbs, chilies and other ingredients to your taste. Other herbs are often added to this salad, and often garlic too; to my taste, all of that is unnecessary. The whole charm of this summer appetizer is the simplicity and balance of its ingredients. When I first made it, I was afraid to use many chilies, then firmly and decisively changed my mind: lots of hot pepper makes the salad even tastier, and the heat is barely noticeable.