Mama Huang's Cookbook

Ingredients:

4 large English cucumbers
1 t kosher salt
1 t sugar

Marinade
3/4 C water
3/4 C soy sauce
3/4 C rice vinegar
1/2 C sugar

Directions:

Cut the cucumbers crosswise into 4 pieces – they should be 3-4″ long, each.

Cut each piece in half, lengthwise.

Lay each piece, cut side down on a cutting board.

With the flat part of a large knife, smash down on the cucumber piece – the piece will        crack down the middle lengthwise.

Cut the piece into 2, lengthwise, along the crack, remove the seeds, then slice each              piece into 3 pieces. Repeat with all the pieces.

Place all the pieces into a large strainer sitting on top of a bowl, and toss with the 1 tsp      of salt and 1 tsp of sugar.

Fill a 1 gal ziploc bag full but  loosely with ice cubes and drape the ice bag on top  of          the cucumbers.

Let drain 1/2 – 2 hours on the counter.

Mix the ingredients of the marinade.

Place 12 half-pint canning jars in the dishwasher and wash.

When washing cycle is almost done, put the marinade into a medium pot and                      bring to a boil on high.

Add the cucumbers and when the marinade begins to boil, remove pot from the                  heat.

Using a slotted spoon, ladle cucumber pieces into jars till they come up to within 1/2          inch of the top of the jars.

Then ladle the hot liquid to 1/4 inch from the top of the jars.

Seal and place in water bath. Process for 15 min, then turn off the heat and open the          canner lid and allow to sit for 5 mins, then remove the jars from the water bath.

Kong Xing Cai

Ingredients for sauce:
2T soy sauce
1T water
2t sesame oil
1T rice vinegar
1/2 – 1 t sugar
Pepper to taste

5 or more garlic cloves, chopped, sauteed in canola oil and drained
Boil the Kong Xing Cai, drain, and cut into 2 inch lengths. Place on serving platter.
Mix all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Sprinkle sauteed garlic over the greens.
Spoon sauce over the greens and serve.

This dish can be served cold or warm.

Ingredients:

Raw chestnuts

Instructions:

Stand each chestnut on its base and grasp firmly with your left thumb and forefinger.

With a small sharp pointed knife, cut a slit down, preferably, the flat side (if there is a flat side) of the chestnut. Be careful! The slit should cut all the way through the shell. This is the safest way to make the slit, but, the most functional slit is across the top of the nut. This slit makes it easiest to pry the shell open and pop out the nut, after baking.

Preheat oven to 425 deg (400 if convection oven).

Roast for 20 mins.When nuts are cool enough to handle, pull the shell apart and the nuts should fall right out, leaving the shell and the brown membrane behind.