A Great Recipe To Relieve Summer Heat: Chinese Cucumber Salad
Besides black mushroom salad, one of my favorite body cleasing recipe, cucumber is another great treat in summer! A few thin slices can work wonders and help you soothe a sunburnt face after a beach party. Its refreshing smell can be comfortably blended into a cup of green smoothie. As one of the most authentic traditional Chinese recipes, cucumber salad is loved by people at all ages. Just get ready with some beer, lamb skewers, and five-spice edamame for a family outdoor gathering:)
So what’s the benefits of eating cucumber, especially in summer? To name a few, here is the list:
- Relieving The Summer Heat
While summer life is charming, nobody can easily get over with the heat and dampness. The summer dampness invading the human body will lead to open pores and excessive sweating, resulting in deficiency and the functional disorder of spleen, stomach, and indigestion.
96% of cucumber is water. It’s also rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, vitamin C and many nutritional elements. It can remove the body heat and toxic material. It can also effectively relieve headache or heatstroke in the summer.
2. Preventing Oral Ulcers In Summer
Cucumber contains Cucurbitacin C and Paiduyangyan, which can alleviate some symptoms of oral ulcer inflammation.
3. Anti-aging
Cucumber is known as the “kitchen beauty agent“. Through a regular diet, or cucumber facial mask, it can work effectively against skin aging. It can firm skin, remove wrinkles, and purify black rim of the eye.
4. Promoting the body metabolism
Cucumber has crisp sweet juicy flesh. It contains pectin, acid and biological activity of enzyme, which can effectively promote the body’s metabolism. As mentioned earlier, with high water content, cucumber possesses the characteristics of high in potassium and low in sodium. That’s why it’s an ideal fit in summer. After sweating, having a cucumber smoothie or salad can complement the loss of water and inorganic salt and accelerate metabolism.
5. Weight Loss
Cucumber is a true friend for women who want to lose weight. It’s cheap but effective. Gift from the nature. It contains alcohol acid, which can inhibit carbohydrate transforming to fat. But please remember, only eat fresh cucumbers, not pickled ones, as they contain excessive salt which will lead to weight gain.
6. Calming The Nerves
In a hot summer day, people can get irritated easily and probably don’t sleep well at night. Cucumber contains vitamin B1, which can improve the brain and nervous system functions and treat insomnia.
Are you excited to learn the amazing benefits this simple Chinese dish can bring to your life? Let’s get started!
Serves 2-4 as an appetizer
Preparation time: varies depending on whether you buy or make deep-fried peanuts
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
peanuts 100g
cucumber 2
parsley 10g, finely chopped
millet red pepper 2, finely chopped
clove garlic 2, finely chopped
salt 1/4 teaspoon
soy sauce, 1 tablespoon
vinegar 1 tablespoon
sugar 1/4 teaspoon
chili oil 1 tablespoon
sesame oil 5 drops
Steps:
1. Add oil in a pan. Deep-fry peanuts in cold oil.
2. Once the peanuts get darker, remove and drain the oil. Let cool for 1 hour.
3. Put cucumber inside a plastic bag. Beat the cucumber using a rolling pin or side surface of a big knife. Then cut cucumber to 2-inch strips.
4. Mix cucumber, millet red pepper, parsley, and garlic in a large bowl. Add salt, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili oil, sesame oil and peanuts. Mix well.
Ready to serve! Enjoy!