The recipe comes from a cookbook by Bee Yin Low, the writer behind the popular food blog: Rasa Malaysia. The cookbook is called, “Easy Chinese Recipes: Family Favorites from Dim Sum to Kung Pao.”  It’s a collection of Low’s all-time favorite dishes that are simple and easy to cook and eat at home.  Low says there is a general misconception that Chinese food is unhealthy, greasy, and mostly deep-fried.  In reality, Low says, there are many fresh and healthy Chinese recipes, such as this Cucumber Salad.

How do you make Cucumber Salad?

You’ll need a cucumber… about 8 to 10-inches long.  Chop off the ends.

Cut it in fourths- lengthwise.

Slice off the seeds.

Cut each piece diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces.

Sprinkle the cucumber with salt.

Let the cucumber sit at room temperature for 30 minutes (to draw out the moisture in the cucumber). Then drain the liquid from the dish.  I actually like to rinse it at this point too since I don’t like an overwhelming salty flavor.

At this point, transfer the cucumber to a plastic bowl with a lid.  Add sugar…

…and rice vinegar.

Put the lid on the bowl, shake it up to coat the cucumbers, and refrigerate it for an hour.  This will give it a chance to soak up those flavors.  The vinegar helps add crunch to the cucumber.

Serve this up as an appetizer or a side dish, or as a salad too.

It makes just two servings- and each serving is 35 calories. Weight Watchers Points are included at the top of this post (if you need to know that sort of thing). It actually isn’t a Weight Watchers recipe at all… it just happens to be one of those wonderful, “fresh and healthy” recipes that Bee spoke of in her cookbook 🙂  And guess what?  We love it!  It’s crunchy and slightly sweet and totally refreshing.  Yay for healthy Chinese food!

Highlight recipes from the book:

Familiar favorites like Tasty Lettuce Wraps, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Pot Stickers, and Yangzhou Fried Rice AND Chinese Takeout Favorites like Simple Egg Drop Soup, Kung Pao Chicken and Beef with Broccoli.

I love that Bee includes information on techniques of stir frying, sharing the basic tools and utensils for Chinese cooking and explaining some of those unfamiliar Chinese ingredients.  And the best part:  there are photos of every single recipe in the book!

Here are a few more recipes using cucumbers you might enjoy:

Cucumber Sandwiches  Spicy Cucumber Stacks Crab Meat Cucumber Rounds Easy Low Carb Cucumbers Caesar