Spicy stuffed cucumber

A lot of the times, the excitement of food comes from the contrast of tastes and textures, that gives rise to the senses unlimited surprises. Here is a dish I tried out, that toys with the difference between cucumber and meat, heightened by a strong chilly taste. 


Recipe: A light dish of Cucumber stuffed with pork and dried shrimps (for 2)


Ingredients
- 1/2 a cucumber, cut at cross-section, seeds removed
- 3-4 oz ground pork, 80% lean
- 2 teaspoon (tp) small dried shrimps
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 slices ginger
- 1 tablespoon (TB) spring onion chopped
- 2 tp strong chilly paste
- 1/4 tp salt
- 1/2 tp vinegar
- white of one egg
- a little sesame oil


Procedure
Mix pork and dried shrimp with 1 tp water and salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Fry pork (without oil) in a pan on medium to med-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, spring onion and let cook until pork is light brown. If too dry, add some water. Mix vinegar and chilly paste and add to pork. Cook until water dries off. Let cool. Then add some egg white to the pork mixture. Stuff into cucumber. Bake in oven at 300F for 30 minutes or less. When done, the cucumber should look only a little cooked on the surface, remaining crispy and juicy, giving out its mild and refreshing smell. Sprinkle a few drops of sesame oil on top and serve.


To serve this dish as a summer appetizer: add 1 TB water with 1/2 tp cornstarch when cooking the pork mixture on the pan. Let thicken, then stuff into raw cucumber. Skip the egg white and the baking.