Many northern Chinese restaurants serve a refreshing raw cucumber salad. The cool texture is a wonderful contrast to spicy-hot dishes. The marinade is simple to make and can also be used to season other vegetables, such as eggplant. The simplest way to cook the eggplant before serving is to cut it into sticks and microwave it under plastic wrap. Once you make the marinade, it takes just a few more minutes to make two types of “salad.” Mix in the marinade and serve both the eggplant or cucumber immediately, or refrigerate to serve later. You may have most of the sauce ingredients in your pantry: soy sauce, neutral oil, any type of chile crisp in oil, Chinese black vinegar or balsamic and sugar. Raw garlic adds another dimension, if you like that.

Smashed Cucumber or Eggplant Salad
Ingredients:
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon chile crisp oil
• 1 tablespoon black Chinese vinegar or balsamic
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Optional: 1 teaspoon minced raw garlic
• 2 long Asian or 5 short Persian cucumbers or 3 Asian eggplants
• Garnish with fried shallots, fried garlic, sesame seeds or more Chile crisp

Directions:
In a bowl, mix soy sauce, neutral oil, chile oil, vinegar, sugar and garlic (if using) to make the sauce. Cut the ends off cucumber and smash with a skillet. Cut into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl. Cut tops off eggplants. Slice into 1 1/2-inch rounds, then into fourths. For larger widths, cut into 6 pieces. Place into a bowl with no additional water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave until tender, about 3 minutes. Cook longer if needed. Carefully remove plastic wrap and drain excess water. Add half of the sauce mixture and serve immediately or refrigerate until serving. Mix cucumbers with remaining marinade and serve immediately or refrigerate until serving. Garnish with more chile crisp, sesame seeds, fried garlic or slivered green onions.
Best served the same day or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Lynette Lo Tom has written three cookbooks and loves hearing about home cooks. Visit lynettecooks.com for more information.