Ingredients
1 lb cucumbers
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp white rice vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp coarsely chopped garlic
Directions
SLICE THE CUCUMBERS in half lengthways. Using a spoon, remove the
seeds. Cut the cucumber halves into 3-by-1/2-inch pieces. Combine the
cucumber pieces with salt and allow to sit in a colander set inside a
bowl for 10 minutes. Rinse them in cold water, blot them dry and toss
with the sugar and vinegar. Heat a wok or large frying pan until it
is hot and add the oil and garlic. Stir-fry for 15 seconds until it
is lightly brown. Mix with the cucumbers and serve.
KEN HOM
PRODIGY GUEST CHEFS COOKBOOK
Servings: 4 servings
Cold Cucumbers With Garlic (Leng Qing Gua) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cucumber; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
It is actually possible to trace the history of written recipes back into antiquity, in fact as far back into recorded history as pharonic Egypt, and potentially, even further back. However, sadly, these old records were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing meals.
Fascinatingly, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are a few clay tablets in Sumerian which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel wonderful and blissful. During the time of the Roman Empire a roman called Apicius compiled a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes enjoyed by his fellow Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius tells us how the roman meals were split into appetizers, main meal and dessert, something that is very familiar to us today. This early Roman chef describes how the cooks of Roman times used many different aromatic flavors, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks for example basil, mint and parsley. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years there were some books dating from the 14th Century : one book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, these two books have no connection with the indian food that appears on menues today, but rather accounts of the types of meals prepared for the wealthy. In the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought back a variety of spices and herbs from the holy land, such as parsley, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new herbs and spices created an explosion in recipe publications, some of which still exist in private cookery archives. Over the following few hundred years, the upper-class families of the West strove to serve up the most exotic banquets, and consequentially cooks and their collection of recipes were highly sought after. Even so, it was during the 19th century that haute cuisine and recipe publications really came of age. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to collating, trying out, and publishing recipes common in their social group. By the arrival of the 20th century, cookery publications are greatly in demand mostly due to better eduction, people having more spare time and being a little richer. The introduction of television brings us TV chefs and the accompanying recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, allowing everybody to access thousands of recipes like those on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Cold Cucumbers With Garlic (Leng Qing Gua) recipe.
