Introduction: If you're tired of stir-fried and cold cucumbers, occasionally drinking a glass of cucumber juice offers a unique flavor and can help prevent common oral diseases in the summer.
1. Cucumber Juice: Prevents Oral Ulcers
Cucumber juice has both excellent taste and nutritional value and can be used in the summer to prevent oral diseases.
If you're tired of stir-fried and cold cucumbers, occasionally drinking a glass of cucumber juice offers a unique flavor and can help prevent common oral diseases in the summer.
Preparation Method: Simply marinate fresh cucumbers with a little sugar, or add them directly to a blender with cold water to extract the juice for immediate consumption.
How to Drink:
You can drink a glass of cucumber juice in the morning to help refresh your digestive system. Because cucumbers are rich in vitamins, they can help alleviate inflammatory symptoms and are effective in treating oral ulcers.
When drinking cucumber juice, if you find the diluted juice has a slightly bitter taste, you can add a little honey to season it.
Health Benefits:
American nutrition experts have also found that drinking a glass of cucumber juice daily can help prevent hair loss and nail splitting, and can even enhance memory.
As is well known, cucumbers have diuretic properties, strengthen the heart and blood vessels, regulate blood pressure, and prevent myocardial strain and atherosclerosis. Experiments have also found that eating a whole cucumber is not as effective as drinking cucumber juice.
2. Cucumber-Filled Dumplings: Whets the Appetite, Lowers Blood Pressure, and Aids Digestion
In the hot summer weather, many older people lose their appetite. Nutritionists suggest that for lunch or dinner, older people eat dumplings, buns, or other filled foods, which are not only nutritionally balanced but also aid digestion. If you've never had cucumber-filled dumplings, you should give them a try. They are not only cooling and refreshing but can also prevent heatstroke, lower blood pressure, and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Preparation Method:
When making the filling, grate the cucumber into fine shreds, chop it slightly, and squeeze out the water. Do not discard the squeezed water; keep it in a bowl for later use. Beat two eggs with an appropriate amount of salt and scramble them in a wok, breaking them up as you cook them—the finer, the better. Let the scrambled eggs cool. If you prefer a richer filling, you can also add some tofu.
Then, mix the cooled eggs, tofu, and cucumber shreds with five-spice powder, chicken essence, minced green onions, and ginger until well combined and set aside. When making the dough, add the cucumber water. This will make the dough more chewy and improve the flavor.
By-product - Cucumber Peel Tea
While the cucumber flesh is used for the filling, the peels can be used to make a cucumber peel tea to clear heat and reduce internal heat.
First, dry the cucumber peels in the sun. Once dry, crush them by hand. Add 10 grams of dried cucumber peel to 200ml of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the water has been reduced by half. This natural tea can be drunk several times a day and is effective in relieving common summer ailments like headaches and fevers associated with heatstroke.
3. "Raincoat" Cucumbers: Sweet and Sour, Refreshing, and a Great Accompaniment to Rice
"Raincoat" cucumbers are refreshing and delicious, and the slices remain tightly connected when picked up. People who are accustomed to drinking congee for breakfast can use "raincoat" cucumbers as a pickle. For lunch or dinner, it serves as a refreshing and appetizing cold dish.
Preparation Method:
For "raincoat" cucumbers, it's best to use larger cucumbers. Starting from one end, cut at a 45-degree angle in the same direction. The closer the cuts are, the more flexible the cucumber will be.
If the cucumber is very crisp and your knife is not sharp, it's easy to cut through. So, it's best to place two chopsticks under the cucumber when cutting. Generally, a Western-style kitchen knife is easier to control for even cuts. If you don't have one, a sharper Chinese cleaver is better. First, make straight cuts on one side of the cucumber. Since it's resting on the chopsticks, you can cut without worrying about cutting through. After finishing one side, turn it 180 degrees and make diagonal cuts.
First, shred the dried chili peppers and soak them in cold water. Dry-roast white sesame seeds in a dry pan over low heat until they turn yellow, then remove and let them cool completely. Heat oil in a small pan, add Sichuan peppercorns and the shredded chili peppers, and remove immediately as they begin to change color to make a fragrant peppery oil. Then, in a bowl of "raincoat" cucumbers, add a small amount of aromatic vinegar, white sugar, salt, and the peppery oil. Mix well and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. When serving, tear the cucumber into small pieces and sprinkle with white sesame seeds. This method makes the "raincoat" cucumbers both pleasantly chewy and exceptionally flavorful.
The elderly and children should not eat too many of these in the summer, as the cool nature of the cucumber and the spiciness of the chili can irritate the stomach. Therefore, "raincoat" cucumbers are best eaten with staple foods.
4. Smashed Cucumbers: Excellent for Relieving Summer Heat
When summer arrives, the sweltering heat can be unbearable and make one feel irritable. Cucumbers are rich in many nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, and vitamin C, making them the best vegetable for the summer.
Preparation Method:
For cold cucumbers, it's best to smash them with a knife, then chop them after the surface has cracked. This way, the juice and pulp won't splash everywhere. After chopping the cucumber, you can make a dressing with a small amount of light soy sauce, an appropriate amount of aged vinegar, chicken essence, sesame oil, and minced garlic. If you prefer a fresh and light salad, pour the dressing on just before serving. If you want a stronger flavor, you can mix it in advance and let it sit for a few minutes before eating. While this method is tastier, some of the cucumber's moisture will be lost.
Many people like to add pork head meat, pig's trotters, or other meats to their cucumbers. This practice is not very scientific. Cucumbers are easily influenced in both flavor and nutrition by other foods. Adding meat will cover the cucumber's light taste, greatly diminishing its appeal. The fat, protein, and cholesterol content of the dish will also increase, making it difficult to serve its original purpose of cooling and relieving summer heat.
Therefore, when eating smashed cucumbers, it's best to have no other side dishes to truly showcase the cucumber's characteristics and value. Because it is a raw vegetable and cucumbers are inherently cool in nature, the elderly, children, and those with a cold stomach should consume it with caution.