One of the easiest little side dish you can make is the cucumber salad. Often called cucumber kimchi but that’s not really right as kimchi is something that’s usually fermented whereas this one is ready to eat straight away!
There are versions of this salad that uses no gochujang at all but I find adding a little gives it that oomph and is also a shortcut to making this taste great without needing too many other ingredients.
The important thing is to get the saltiness right, it has to be a little too salty to just eat it on its own as it is meant to be eaten with rice, as are most banchan but not so much so it cures your tongue, As with any recipe, taste it as you go along and you can alway add but hard to take it back!
Ingredients:
– half a cucumber sliced
– Sprinkle of salt
– 1/2 Tbs gochujang
– 2 cloves of garlic crushed
– 2 tsp sesame oil
– 2 tsp sugar
– quarter of a medium onion sliced
– 1 tsp fish sauce (optional if you want to keep this vegetarian)
– Sesame seeds for garnish
Slice cucumbers and sprinkle them with salt, don’t worry about how much as you’ll rinse them. Mix and set aside for 10 min.
Slice onion by first cutting it in half from one end to other rather than what you are used to to make onion rings. This is the way Koreans usually slice onions, Then put the flat bit on the cutting board and slice the same direction again to have thin slices of onion that are the opposite way to an onion ring.
Meanwhile mix gochujang with garlic, sesame oil and sugar, set aside.
Now rinse the cucumber with water to get rid of all salt. This makes the cucumber less watery and it retains its crunch after being dressed.
Thoroughly drain and maybe even pat with some kitchen roll.
Mix cucumber and onion with the sauce thoroughly and now add fish sauce a tiny bit at a time and taste as you go along. Korean food is all about balance and your palate is important when cooking, it should have a balance of spicy, sweet and salty, the holy trinity.
Garnish with sesame seeds and it’s ready to be enjoyed with rice!
