Cold Grouse Salad with Smashed Cucumbers and Chili Crisp
Beat the heat this summer with this cold, crisp, spicy salad of fresh cucumber and shredded ruffed grouse meat
I was first introduced to the joys of regional Chinese cuisine after reading Fuchsia Dunlop’s book The Land of Plenty (a book I think all hunters interested in cooking should own), a book cataloging and waxing poetic about the food of China’s Sichuan Province. I brought the book home and excitedly read it from front to back in one long sitting, with dreams of new and exciting recipes buzzing through my head.
Sichuan cookery is characterized by Ma-La, meaning hot and numbing in Mandarin. It comes about from ample use of spicy chilies and chili oil, mixed with the numbing effects of Sichuan peppercorn, which leaves your lips and tongue tingling.
I dove head-first into Sichuan cookery, leaving behind the chicken balls and chop suey of my youth. I began to learn more about Chinese regional cooking, slowly coming to understand that there was a whole world of different flavors and techniques just waiting to be explored.
The next region I was drawn to was the Xi’an region, known for its Shaanxi style of cooking. This food is characterized by its locality and peoples, offering up wheat-based breads, noodles, and dumplings instead of rice; lamb instead of pork; bold spices like cumin; and lots of fiery spice and chili oil.
Xi’an Famous Foods, a restaurant chain found in several cities across the United States, is the place to try this type of cuisine.
I’ve been learning about the other cuisines of China since then: the delicate and seafood-heavy cuisine of Guangdong, the fiery freshness of Hunan, the tropical vibes of Yunnan, the melting pot cuisine of Jiangsu… even the sub-arctic cuisine of Harbin, which resembles Russian and Polish food more than Chinese.
Those first two regions, Sichuan and Xi’an, are still my favorites by far, and I find myself gravitating to restaurants and recipes showcasing them as often as possible.
This dish was inspired by a bit of a mixture of the two cuisines, offering some heat from the chili oil, cooled down by the presence of the smacked cucumbers, and of course the wildness of the ruffed grouse. You could always add a pinch of Sichuan peppercorn powder if you want to add a Ma-La flourish!
Smacking and salting cucumbers is a technique used in China that results in extra crunchy cukes that don’t get soggy in a salad such as this. It has the added benefit of creating lots of crags and valleys for sauce to cling to – if you slice cucumbers with a knife, the sauce just slides off the surface. Lastly, it’s just kind of fun and allows you to get a little aggression out that you may have been harboring after a tough day at work.
To do it, simply take a cucumber (I find English or Persian cucumbers work best for this) and whack the hell out of it with a rolling pin, the flat of a chef’s knife, or your fist. Don’t hit it so hard that you’re scraping cucumber gunk off the ceiling, just enough to collapse the cucumber and break it down. Now, pull the smashed cucumber apart into bite-sized pieces, transfer it to a bowl, and toss it with a pinch of salt. After 20 minutes (in the fridge), the cucumber will have exuded lots of its liquid, which you can pour off into the sink. It’s now ready to be tossed into the salad.
This technique isn’t just for Chinese preparations. Do it to any cucumber you plan on dressing, whether on its own or as part of a larger salad – you’ll never look back!
Cold Grouse Salad with Smacked Cucumbers and Chili Crisp
Ingredients
Method
- Put the grouse, scallion, ginger, garlic, and salt in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
- Remove the grouse and let cool. Strain and save the liquid for another purpose or discard.
- While the grouse is cooling, use a rolling pin, flat side of a chef’s knife, or your hand to smack the cucumbers so they break apart. Either use your fingers to break the cucumbers down into small, bite-sized pieces, or use a knife to cut them.
- Add the cucumbers to a salad bowl and sprinkle a pinch of salt over them. Use your hands to toss the cucumbers in the salt. Let sit for 15 minutes, then pour off and discard any liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl.
- Once the grouse is cool, pull off all of the meat, shred it, and discard the bones. Add the shredded meat to the bowl with the cucumbers.
- Add the sesame, garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, vinegar, and chili crisp (adjust as necessary to achieve your desired spice level).
- Toss everything together and serve immediately. Enjoy!
