An Easy, Crunchy, Spicy Cucumber Kimchi
For fermentation newbies and kimchi aficionados alike
I recently started re-reading a cookbook I own called The Korean Kimchi Cookbook: 78 Fiery Recipes for Korea’s Legendary Pickled and Fermented Vegetables. It’s a decidedly “uncool”-looking cookbook by today’s standards: a paperback (gasp) cookbook with horizontal (bigger gasp) orientation. But it’s well-written, educational, beautifully photographed, and offers all kinds of kimchis according to the seasons. Nowadays we’re used to accessing only a few major types of kimchi (Napa cabbage and radish among the most popular) 365 days a year—even my corner bodega stocks a couple of different brands. But traditionally, the types of kimchi prepared and fermentation methods employed would vary in accordance with the changing seasons, with the most pungent and well-fermented kimchis enjoyed with heartier winter fare and crunchier, juicier, lightly-fermented kimchis enjoyed in the peak summer.
For me, summer means all kinds of cucumber kimchi. My all-time favorite is a popular version called oi sobaegi, in which you cut slits into whole cucumbers and stuff them with a spicy seasoning paste and maybe some other shredded or thinly sliced vegetables like carrots or radish. This recipe is a little less involved, easier to prepare, but just as delicious. It’s a “fresh kimchi,” which more or less refers to a kimchi that’s meant to be enjoyed either right away or after a day or two of sitting on your countertop so it can lightly ferment and develop a slight funk. It’s a nice beginner-friendly recipe if you’ve never made your own kimchi before and are intimidated by crocks and airlocks and three-week fermentation periods.
I love using Kirby cucumbers to make this recipe because I appreciate their thin skin and smaller size, but you could use any style of cucumber. The food co-op has been selling garlic chives recently, which is what I used here, but I normally use scallions since I don’t have regular access to garlic chives.
My favorite way to eat this kind of cucumber kimchi is as part of an assortment of banchan, with fresh steamed white rice. But it also slays alongside a katsu or schnitzel or fried chicken or other breaded and fried meat. Or eat it anywhere/anytime you would enjoy a crisp dill pickle spear. I, for one, would absolutely crush a hot dog topped with cucumber kimchi. It’s also good on its own as a salty snack, a la olives. Not that I think you’ll have trouble finding ways to enjoy them.
Crunchy and Spicy Fresh Cucumber Kimchi
Makes 2 quarts
Ingredients
2 pounds small cucumbers (Kirbys or Persian are both great)
3 Tbsp. coarse sea salt, divided (if using a finer-grained salt, start with half the amount and add more to taste)
1 tsp. sweet rice flour (mochiko)
⅓ cup finely chopped garlic (from about 8 cloves)
1 Tbsp. finely chopped ginger
¼ cup coarse gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
2 Tbsp. fish sauce, preferably Korean
2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, sliced into matchsticks
1 cup garlic chives cut into 2” batons or thinly sliced scallions
Preparation
Quarter cucumbers lengthwise then cut into 1 1/2” chunks. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with 2 Tbsp. sea salt. Let cucumbers sit 30 minutes to allow juices to release.
Combine sweet rice flour and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the rice flour forms a thin, gluey paste. Transfer rice gruel to a medium bowl and let cool.
Add garlic, ginger, gochugaru, fish sauce, sugar, and remaining 1 Tbsp. salt to bowl with rice gruel and stir to form a coarse paste.
Add onion, carrot, and garlic chives or scallions to bowl with cucumbers and their liquid. Scrape in gochugaru paste. Use gloved and/or clean hands to toss everything together until well combined. At this point, give the kimchi a taste and add more fish sauce, sugar, and/or gochugaru to your liking. The kimchi should taste well-salted.
Divide kimchi between two clean one-quart glass jars, packing cucumbers down lightly, distributing liquid evenly, and leaving at least 1” headspace. Cover and let sit at room temperature for a day or two until lightly fermented (taste it—once it’s a little funky, it’s ready), then move kimchi to refrigerator and chill for up to 2 weeks.
See you all next week!
–Chaey