.:My Spicy Cucumber Salad:.

I love love Spicy Cucumber Salad. The bf and I love it shrimpy, crabby, fishy, limely... you name it.. We like it tasty with lots of flavor!

The idea is to make it and make it according to your liking!

All the ingredients: Salt, Crab pieces, crab paste, shrimp paste, salad seasoning, fish/squid sauce, peppers, garlic, tamarind

Cucumbers: peel, sliced into thin slices. Do not use core.

 -I used 4 small cucumbers (farmer's market, locally grown). I like these better than the ones from the grocery stores. They are young and crisp!

Also need 6 peanuts, l/2 limes, 1/2 mango and 2 tomatoes

Start with peppers and salt first then add peanuts and garlic in the mortar

 -I like mine extra spicy so I used alot of peppers here... adjust to your liking.

Now add your tamarind (spoonful) , shrimp (1 tspn) and crab paste (1 tspn).

  -For best results, put your tamarind, shrimp and crab paste in a small bowl with a spoonful of water and microwave for 20-30 seconds. Mix with a spoon. This way it's all mixed up and not clumpy. No one likes to eat a hunk of crab paste.. :P

Prepare and slice the mango, tomatoes and 1/2 lime this way

 -This mango was more ripe than I would like it, but it was the best I could find at the time. Asian markets usually have very green mangoes!

Add the seasoning onto the sliced cucumbers

Now add the cucumbers in the mortar. Then add the tomatoes, lime, mango, tbsp of fish/squid sauce and crab pieces

Use the pestle to crush and mix the ingredients a couple times.

  -Don't crush them too hard, unless you want it mushy. We like ours a bit crispy so I only do it a few time to get the ingredients to mix around.

Spoon cucumber salad onto bowl/plate

Ready to eat!!

-Easy right? It'll probably take a few tries or several to perfect it.. It's one of those things where you gotta test and taste and add more. If it's too salty or spicy, add more cucumbers or lime/tamarind to your mix.
 -You can make it with papaya, cabbage and or carrots!