Blow Up Food

Cucumber Kimchi

(Fresh Cucumber Kimchi being made)
 
I wrote about vegetarian kimchi a few weeks ago, but I thought it might be helpful to give a more detailed version of what substitutes can be made so that you can avoid fish sauce.

Cucumber Kimchi is probably the easiest and cheapest kimchi to make, and you can eat it after 15 minutes, instead of waiting for several days like you need to with cabbage kimchi. It’s also a really handy pickle to have in the fridge for lunches and side dishes, and goes a surprisingly long way. This recipe is an adapted version of David Chang’s.

Ingredients
Sugar
Salt
Cucumber
Radishes
Chilli flakes
Light Soy Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce
Rice vinegar
Spring onion
Onion
Ginger
Garlic

Recipe
Thinly slice 1 large cucumber and place in a bowl. Stir in 1½ teaspoons of sugar and ½ teaspoon of coarse sea salt. Leave for 15 minutes and then drain off any excess water that the cucumbers let out.

Meanwhile, mix together 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt, 1½ tablespoons of chilli flakes, a big chunk of ginger (cut into matchsticks), 4 gloves of garlic (thinly sliced), 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and a dash of dark soy (these are the replacement ingredients).

Combine the cucumbers and the mixture, adding in 1 spring onion (cut into matchsticks), ¼ normal onion (thinly sliced or mandolined) and a handful of thinly sliced radish.

Mix again and leave for 15 minutes before eating or store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

You can adapt this recipe to your own preferences - up the amount of ginger for something more fragrant or cut down on chilli if you’re having wimpy guests over for tea.

Serve over rice or noodles, as a side dish or just eat whilst standing next to the open fridge.

(a much milder version we made recently)

Vegetarian Kimchi

Kimchi is great - you make up a big batch, leave it to fizz in the fridge and you’ve got quick and healthy teas sorted for weeks. I’ve never bought pre-made kimchi in jars because it always has fish sauce and/or shrimp paste in, so we’ve started to make it ourselves (that’s me and @topfife). We use David Chang’s Momofuku recipe, and substitute the fishy ingredients with some dark soy (for saltiness) and some rice vinegar. The picture above is of Napa cabbage kimchi, but you could easily use chinese leaf instead. We’ve also made it with Pak Choi and cucumber (although that’s a slightly different recipe).

Once you’ve got your batches of kimchi you’ll find it endlessly useful. It’s great in omelettes, mixed in pancakes and as a base for soup, but I like it best stirred into some fresh brown rice. It’s super spicy though, so lower the quantity of chilli flakes if you prefer something milder.