Kwei Fei’s Sichuan Marinated Cucumbers

When it’s time to build a feast with your favorite wines, there’s a few chefs we’d put in our arsenal for an epic meal packed with lots of flavor. So this month we enlisted flavor king, David Schuttenberg from local spot Kwei Fei to steer us into flavor town for September’s release of Extra Sauce.

David Schuttenberg

Chef & Owner, Kwei Fei

Tina and I were lucky enough to survive in New York City for almost 13 years before heading for the Lowcountry in 2015. If there's one thing I did regularly (other than going to see live music) in my free time, it was wandering the streets and alleyways of not only Manhattan's Chinatown, but also those in Brooklyn, and Queens as well. But it wasn't until 2013, when Philadelphia-based restaurant Han Dynasty opened their first outpost in the East Village that I became truly addicted to the flavors of Sichuan. The intense chili heat, the buzz from the Sichuan peppercorns... I just couldn't get enough. We would plow through their menu. Chicken wings, mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, and their Sichuan cucumber salad. I can't imagine what we looked like as we walked out after a meal. Sweat pouring from my brow, my tongue still reeling from the numbing heat, it can't have been pretty.

It was those cucumbers that started me on this journey of trying to learn everything I can about the cuisine of the Sichuan province. I had little to no idea what I was doing, but I had an old Chinese Regional Cookbook I had found at a thrift store years earlier, I turned to the section that featured the Sichuan province and sure enough, there was a photo of those very same cucumbers. I used that recipe as my starting point, and then, using flavor memories from Han Dynasty, adapted it some until it hit the notes I remembered. Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, it has it all. These are the foods that inspired us to open Kwei Fei back in 2017, and I think it's a great place for you to learn to add some of the same flavors to your culinary canon as well. Don't be intimidated by the ingredients list (or the size of them in my photo!). They are all available at the wonderful H and L Supermarket in North Charleston. And in sizes that fit nicely in any home pantry. Without H and L, we would have never been able to source the proper ferments, and sauces that are the building blocks of our cooking, and I forever owe them a debt of gratitude.

So, here it is. Kwei Fei's recipe for Sichuan Marinated Cucumbers. I hope you enjoy them. If you find yourself addicted like me, all the better.

Sichuan Cucumbers

YIELD: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

4 ea English Cucumbers

26g Kosher Salt

90g Sugar

7g MSG

105g Black Vinegar

60g Rice Vinegar

150g Sesame Oil

75g Pixian Douban

12g Sichuan Peppercorn

45g Sliced Garlic

Directions:

1. Combine Salt, sugar, MSG. black vinegar, and rice vinegar in a large stainless bowl. Whish togeter and set aside to let seasonings to melt in liquid.

2. Slice garlic thinly on mandoline, and place in a 4Qt cambro.

3. Whisk vinegars and seasoning a bit more to ensure it is completely melted. add sesame oil, pixian douban and sichuan peppercorn to bowl.

4. Whisk well to emusify oils into liquids and then pour evenly over garlic in Cambro. 5. Cut cucumbers into quarters lengthwise, and then across into 1 ½” inch lengths 6. Season generously with additional kosher salt, toss well, and place in a large colander and leave to drain for a couple hours.

7. After 2 hours, check cucumbers for seasoning. If they are too salty, rinse under cold water. If they are good, leave them be.

8. Add cucmbers to marinade and let sit for at least 3 hours before serving. 9. Cucumbers can be made 1 or 2 days in advance, and kept int the fridge for a couple days after service. But they’ll probably be eaten way before that.

10/11/19 - DS