Cucumbers

I've taken exactly one cooking class in my life - a class called Rural Chinese Cooking. I know the name of the class sounds alarming, but the premise was that most actual Chinese people never make deep fried breaded chicken, then roll it around in sugar syrup, toss in pineapple from a can, and serve it over rice. Sweet and sour chicken may be served in Chinese restaurants, but it is a totally American creation.

In this class we were supposed to learn how real Chinese people cooked. Fair enough. Our teacher started the class by giving us little servings of cucumber salad. And pretty much that's all I remember because I spent the rest of the class scheming to get my hands on more of the cucumber salad. It's dead simple, but the total is wayyyy more than the sum of its parts.

2 cucumbers, sliced thin
1/4 C rice vinegar
1 tbs toasted sesame oil
1 tsp brown sugar
red pepper flakes

I dare you not to eat a whole bowl.

- Christiana