I am going to (try) tap into Korean cooking. I’ve eaten at various Korean places and most of the time ordered pretty much the same stuff like spicy pork, soft tofu soup and Korean BBQ ribs. I’ve also tried to recreate those dishes in my kitchen and have been pretty satisfied with the outcome. However, this is my very first time trying to make those tasty side dishes at home.

I am no expert in Korean cooking but I do try my best. I’m sure you can find plenty of Korean recipes online and I am just sharing with you all what I’ve learned and what has worked for me.  Here is my first Korean side dish and expect many more to come.

Ingredients
1.5 lbs cucumbers
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
7 stalks green onion, chopped
4 tablespoons red pepper powder
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup of salt + 1 teaspoon (optional)
1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)

Method:
Rinse the cucumber and cut a little bit off the top an bottom. You can use the small pickled cucumbers or a variety of English cucumbers. Also, my cucumber had some wax on it so I went ahead and removed some of the skin. If the cucumbers are long, cut them in half. Slit the cucumber into quarters but don’t go all the way down. Leave about 1 inch or so. Pour some salt on them evenly making sure to salt in between the slits as well. Set aside for about 1 hour. The salt will help draw out the liquid from the cucumbers.

Next prepare the stuffing. In a big enough bowl combine all the other ingredients together. It is optional to add additional salt or fish sauce to make the stuffing depending on how well you think you rinse the salted cucumbers and how salty you would like the finish product to taste.

When the cucumbers has drained, rinse with cold water and squeeze as much liquid out as possible. Then take some of the stuffing and press it in between the slits. Repeat for all the other cucumbers. Stuffed cucumber kimchi can be enjoyed right away or you can leave it out to pickle a bit for about 3-4 hours then put it in a jar or air tight container and store it in the fridge to be consume some other time.