Qinzhou Cucumber Peel

Qinzhou Cucumber Peel

　　Qinzhou’s cucumber peel is quite famous. Traditional cucumber peel is usually pickled in the conventional way, but the new snack "First-Class Cucumber Peel Roll" uses thin long slices of cucumber peel coated with cuttlefish paste, then pressed with a salted egg, rolled into a cylindrical shape, tied with shredded red chili pepper, and steamed. The result is crispy on the outside and fragrant on the inside, with excellent color, aroma, and taste.

　　Qinzhou cucumber peel is made from locally unique short-vine white-skinned cucumbers in Qinzhou through traditional secret processing methods. It is tender, crisp, refreshing, slightly sour with sweetness, rich in fragrance, and has a great mouthfeel that stimulates the appetite. With its distinctive flavor, it is a renowned local specialty of Qinzhou and a popular household snack as well as an ideal gift for friends and relatives.

　　Better to give up shark’s fin than the crispness of cucumber peel—that’s what they say about the cucumber peel produced in Qinnan. The three towns of Nasi, Nali, and Napeng in Qinnan District are abundant in cucumber production and are also famous for their “Three-Na” cucumber peel.

　　Cucumber peel is truly a unique delicacy of Lingnan, both in flavor and ingredients. Currently, similar preserved cucumber peel products in China include Suzhou honey-glazed cucumber and Shanghai sauce-packed melon. However, these two have strong sauce flavors that alter the original taste of cucumbers. Only Qinzhou cucumber peel retains the fresh flavor of cucumbers even after processing and pickling, with the unique function of stimulating the appetite and cutting greasiness. The processing ingredients are very particular, using carefully selected authentic fresh cucumbers from Qinzhou (the Three-Na area) and processed using Qinzhou’s unique traditional methods. Strangely enough, the surrounding towns such as Nali and Napeng have a unique microclimate and soil environment, producing cucumbers that are different from others. Beyond the boundary of Jiulong Town, the cucumbers change somewhat, losing the tender crispness unique to the “Three-Na” cucumbers. It is precisely because local cucumbers are hard to replace with those from other areas that some cucumber processing companies have had to halt production due to shortages of local cucumbers.

　　The charm of history leaves a lingering taste, and the promotion of tradition brings freshness to that nostalgia. The uniqueness of Qinzhou cucumber peel processing lies in this as well. The processing of cucumber peel in Qinzhou was already very popular as early as the Song Dynasty. Nowadays, even after more than six months of storage, it can still maintain its original color, texture, and taste, which is also unique among similar products. Cucumber peel is no longer just a pickled vegetable in the market. It made a splash at the Spring Festival Gala banquet in Beijing and won a gold award at the Guangxi Tourism Food Festival. With its distinctive flavor, it has become a well-known local specialty both within and outside the region, making its way into large supermarkets in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and Shanghai, and even entering supermarkets in Hong Kong. Businesspeople from all over the country who come to Qinzhou, Qinzhou natives returning home for family visits, and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan all take cucumber peel back as a local specialty. Some outsiders who have tried Qinzhou cucumber peel have gone to great lengths to ask others to purchase it for them even from afar. From a mere pickled vegetable to a renowned flavor specialty, cucumber peel processing businesses have grown rapidly from none to 17, producing 35,000 tons of cucumber peel annually. The products are sold as far as Beijing, Hong Kong, and other major cities, and are displayed in supermarkets across the country.

　　Geographic Scope

　　The protected geographic indication area for Qinzhou cucumber peel agricultural products is located in the southern part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It borders Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, to the north, connects to Beihai City and Yulin City to the east, and is adjacent to Fangchenggang City to the west. It includes Qinnan District, Qinnorth District, Lingshan County, and Pubei County under the current jurisdiction of Qinzhou City. The protected area for Qinzhou cucumber peel is between 107°27′ and 109°56′ east longitude, and 20°52′ and 22°41′ north latitude. Within this region, the growing area for Qinzhou cucumbers—the raw material for making Qinzhou cucumber peel—is 10,000 hectares, with an annual yield of 350,000 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　(1) External Sensory Characteristics: Qinzhou cucumbers are three-edged cylindrical in shape, 15–20 cm in length, 4–6 cm in diameter, and weigh 200–300 g per cucumber. They serve as the raw material for making Qinzhou cucumber peel. The semi-finished product after pickling and pressing is flat and long, with yellowish-white, wrinkled skin. The finished product consists of 1 cm × 2 cm slices, which are yellowish-white in color, thin-skinned with thick flesh, tender and crisp in texture, and have a salty, sour, and fragrant taste. The edible rate is 100%, making it refreshing and appetizing—a high-quality side dish. (2) Internal Quality Indicators: Qinzhou cucumber peel contains 60–200 kj/100g of energy, 0.5–3.5 g/100g of protein, 0.3–1.6 g/100g of fat, 1.5–5.0 g/100g of carbohydrates, and 400–3350 mg/100g of sodium. (3) Safety Requirements: The selection of Qinzhou cucumber production areas strictly follows the “Pollution-Free Vegetable Production Area Environmental Conditions” (NY5010—2002). The planting process adheres to the “Pollution-Free Cucumber Production Technical Regulations” (NY/T5075-2002), and the product safety indicators must comply with the requirements for melon vegetables in Document No. Nongbanzhi [2013] 17.