Cucumber Kimchi (+ Video!)

First of all, I want to welcome you all to what I’m going to call CUCUMBER MONTH. If you haven’t heard, my teeny cucumber plant has taken over a third of my garden bed, and has since produced over 25 cucumbers…as of today. Today, I found one that was MASSIVE under a couple of leaves. I’ve been documenting some of my harvests on Instagram, so you can see here and here what this monster has become. No need to #shoplocal when you can #eatlocal out of your own backyard! I’ve got lots of cucumber deliciousness coming your way, so get ready!

Secondly, this week is SPECIAL because I made this recipe while my awesome brother Ross and I simultaneously filmed a stop-motion animated recipe video for you all to enjoy! You can view the video below…RIP Cuke Family.

TIP: You do not need the additional gochugaru on the cukes before salting…We were just trying to dramatize them a little with the “blood!”

My mother (who is white) affectionately calls this, “the only kimchi I like.” This is a cool, refreshing side dish that comes with a little bit of zing! In my experience, I’m finding that a lot of Korean food has a lot of “moving parts” per se, and are often time consuming. Luckily, I’m here to tell you this was very easy! Besides waiting for the water to draw out of the cucumbers, it all comes together rather quickly. (but not if you’re making a stop-motion video…you have to take a picture after every cut!)

You do need a few special ingredients for this recipe, gochugaru (고춧가루) and myulchi aekjeot (멸치액젓). I don’t normally have great luck finding ethnic food stores around here, but I did find a place here where I could get both. Unfortunately, the provided me with a whole liter of anchovy sauce. If you have trouble, you can always turn to trusty Amazon! They have the exact gochugaru I bought, and a smaller bottle of myulchi aekjeot than the one I had to buy! If you’re in the area and want to buy it off of me…I’ll gladly pass it off free of charge.

I’m going to admit right now that I do not really eat kimchi. I’m a terrible Korean. But if your friends like it, serve it to them with all your extra cukes! My whole family was in town for the 4^th of July, so I pawned it off on them.

EnJOY your time with your family and in your kitchen…both experiences are always worth it!

xx hillary

NOTE: I marked this dish as vegetarian because it was made out of…vegetables. If you are following a veggie diet, just leave out the fish sauce! 🙂

Recipe adapted from Korean Bapsang

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Cucumber Kimchi

Perfect summer app or side! NOTE: If you are a vegetarian, omit the fish sauce.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Korean

Prep Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 6 -8

Author 918 Plate

Ingredients

• 5 pickling cucumbers
• 1 T. Kosher salt
• ¼ white or yellow onion sliced thinly
• 2 green onions/scallions chopped
• 1 T. Korean red chili powder gochugaru
• 1 T. anchovy sauce myulchi aekjeot
• 2 large cloves of garlic pressed
• 2 cm cube of ginger root minced
• ½ t. white sugar
• 1 t. sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Dice cucumbers into bite-sized pieces
2. Salt and let sit for 30 minutes to let the water draw out
3. Drain any excess liquid (but don’t rinse)
4. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl
5. Add mix to cucumbers
6. Refrigerate for at least 30 min before eating
7. enJOY!

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This week, I’ve linked up with #TryABiteTuesday and Weekend Potluck!