오이무침//Oi Muchim//Cucumber Side Dish

7/7/2016

This one is a personal favorite of both me and my sister. Our grandmother makes it whenever we have cucumbers on hand. It's also another super easy recipe!

Ingredients

1 Cucumber
1 Tbs. Hot pepper paste (gochugaru)
2 Tbs. Soy Sauce
1 Tbs. Sugar (or more to taste)
1 Tbs. Salt
1 Tbs. Sesame Oil
1 Tbs. White Vinegar
2 Tbs. Sesame Seeds
1 sliced green onion
1 Tbs. minced garlic

Steps

Preparing the Cucumber:
Step 1: In order to prep the cucumber for your delicious banchan, start by peeling strips of the skin off if you purchased an English cucumber. These cucumbers' skin can be a little tough otherwise. If you purchased pickling cucumbers, go ahead and skip this!

Step 2: Next, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, and slice! Place in a bowl and toss with the salt and sugar. It should look like this:

Step 3: Let the cucumber sit for about 30 minutes. The salt draws out extra moisture, which cucumbers have a lot of! After 30 minutes, you can drain all of the liquid. [N.B.: In my radish kimchi recipe, you use some of the liquid. You can do that here, but the cucumbers will still have plenty of moisture.]

Seasoning the Dish!
Step 4: Seasoning the dish is actually quite simple. Place the other ingredients in with the cucumber, and combine! You should have a delicious banchan in no time.