Summertime and cucumber seem a perfect combination. Be it on the side, as garnish or pickled by itself as a whole dish, cucumber brings down the heat visually and with its taste.  The many varieties of cucumber all have the same effect. The ones that I used most often are those that do not require peeling, not the most common variety that has tough and waxed skin. I like to work with  the "Hot House" English cucumber or the slender and smaller in size  Japanese variety. Both have crisp skin that add color and crunchiness to a dish. Cucumbers are easy to prepare. You can eat it raw. Many Vietnamese rice dishes serve up cucumber and tomato slices along side their barbecued meat. Pickled, they are a cool side dish to Japanese broiled fish dishes or Cantonese barbecue pork, soy sauce chicken and roasted duck dishes. It is also great by itself like the garlic marinated version, very simple to do: