Today, I will be sharing a tasty and refreshing Chinese Malaysian or Nyonya cucumber dish that will boost the appetite with its sourish and slightly sweetish taste. It is called 'Timun Sui' : 'Timun' is a Malay word for cucumber and 'Sui' is a Hokkien Chinese word for sour. However, as far as I remember, my family and others in Penang have always referred to cucumber as 'timun' too.
The traditional recipe calls for a mix of chicken gizzard, heart and liver and sometimes with additional pork but I will only be using pork in my recipe here. Well, I don't know the actual reason for using giblets as the origin but I guess part of it may be connected to this dish being mostly cooked in a celebratory or ceremonial meal. Many chickens would be slaughtered then and as most Chinese people are basically intuitively versatile in not wasting food and making almost anything edible into something delicious, the excess giblets from the chickens would have been put to good use.
I often cook this dish since I do not observe ceremonial or religious practices and also because I enjoy eating it. As for those who are into a slimming diet, one or half a small bowl of brown or whole grain rice with this dish and some salad will surely contribute beneficially with all the much needed wholesome nutrients. Vinegar is the essential ingredient for the authentic Asian taste but if you are allergic to it, try substituting with lemon juice instead.
The traditional recipe calls for a mix of chicken gizzard, heart and liver and sometimes with additional pork but I will only be using pork in my recipe here. Well, I don't know the actual reason for using giblets as the origin but I guess part of it may be connected to this dish being mostly cooked in a celebratory or ceremonial meal. Many chickens would be slaughtered then and as most Chinese people are basically intuitively versatile in not wasting food and making almost anything edible into something delicious, the excess giblets from the chickens would have been put to good use.
I often cook this dish since I do not observe ceremonial or religious practices and also because I enjoy eating it. As for those who are into a slimming diet, one or half a small bowl of brown or whole grain rice with this dish and some salad will surely contribute beneficially with all the much needed wholesome nutrients. Vinegar is the essential ingredient for the authentic Asian taste but if you are allergic to it, try substituting with lemon juice instead.
Timun Sui
Ingredients:-
A - 100g pork fillet
1 tsp light soya sauce
1 tsp cornflour
- Thinly slice pork against the grain and marinate with sauce and cornflour. Set aside while preparing Ingredients B.
B - 340g cucumber
1 fresh red chilli
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
- Skin cucumber on alternate sides and remove seeds. Quarter lengthwise and make a light incision on each piece.
- Remove seeds from chilli and slice thinly.
- Mix vinegar, sugar, salt, chilli and cucumber together and leave to marinate for about 20 minutes while preparing Ingredients C.
C - 30g carrot
40g onion (small onion)
4 pips garlic
1 tbsp peanut oil
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 tsp cornflour
- Skin and thinly slice carrot.
- Slice onion into 8 wedges, remove root ends and separate into pieces.
- Mince garlic.
- Remove cucumber and chilli from vinegar marinade into another plate. Stir cornflour into vinegar marinade.
How to cook
- Saute minced garlic in heated oil until aromatic and lightly browned.
- Add sliced onion, carrot, meat and quickly stir fry over high heat until meat is 3/4 cooked.
- Add cucumber and chilli and fry for a minute.
- Pour in hot water, vinegar and cornflour mixture and cook for another minute or until sauce thickens.
- Dish out and serve with rice.
** Beef or chicken fillets can be used but taste will differ slightly.
~Kim~
