In a Pickle with Korean Chili

So lately I’ve been on a craze for Korean food, but my Korean food is limited really to just kim chee and BBQ chicken. I really don’t venture beyond that because a lot of Korean dishes are heavy on the beef — except for soon, the tofu soup, which I also crave.

Recently when I was shopping in a Korean grocery store in Oakland, I saw these really cute pickle cucumbers and that prompted me to make some Korean pickled cucumbers. This is also one of my favorite things about Korean food. Pickled cucumbers are a common panchan, which are the free side dishes that come out at Korean restaurants before your main meal.

I’ve had a variety of Korean pickled cucumbers, some made more spicy than others, and some more crunchy than others. But my favorite has to be from my go-to Korean fast-food spot in Hawaii called Yummy’s. Their cucumbers are always so crunchy and not overly spicy, with just the right balance of sweet and sour.

In the past I’ve tried to duplicate this at home, but always failed. Now I realized it’s because I wasn’t using the right cucumbers. Apparently, it makes a difference using these small pickling cucumbers because they really retain their crunchiness even sitting in pickling juice for days.

Below is my recipe for the pickled cucumbers, Korean-style. Enjoy!

Korean-style Pickled Cucumbers
Copyright 2009 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients
1 lb. pickle cucumbers or Japanese cucumbers
1 t kosher salt
½ cup sugar
½ cup distilled white vinegar
¼ cup water
1 t Vietnamese fish sauce
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 T hot chili paste
1 t chili flakes

Cut cucumbers about ¼-inch thick (leaving on the skin) and sprinkle with kosher salt. Gently work salt through the cucumber pieces with your hand and let sit for 30 minutes. Then rinse quickly under running water and drain in colander.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, vinegar, water, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, chili paste and chili flakes. Add cucumbers and then transfer everything into a clean mason jar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes about 3 cups of pickled cucumbers.

TIP: You have to use small cucumbers designed for pickling to really get that nice crunch. Normal cucumbers might be crunchy at first, but will eventually soften. The pickled cucumbers are often found in Asian grocery stores, especially Korean and Japanese stores. In other gourmet stores, they may already be pickled.

HOT SAUCE: The Korean chili paste, aka kochujang, is a common ingredient in Korean dishes. They’re sold in plastic containers and has the same consistency as miso paste, but spicier of course. Check Korean grocery stores or a general Asian grocery store. I’ve never purchased it online, but if you’re desperate to try you can go to KoaMart.com out of L.A.

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