Oi Kimchi (Cucumber Kimchi) 오이 김치

This kind of kimchi is spicey but at the same time you get the freshness of the cucumber which is lovely.

I originally tried the recipe that is in Lee Wade's book Korean Cookery which was published back in the 1970s. This book has been brilliant for me as it has given me a starting point from which to explore Korean recipes. Lee Wade was an American lady who learned Korean cookery while she was working as a librarian for the Eighth US Army Recreation Services in Seoul from a lady called Kim Samsun. Tragically she died in her thirties and her book was finished off by a friend. That is all I can find out about her, but her detailing of the ingredients involved in Korean cookery is such a valuable aid. On the other hand some of the quantities in the book are rather strange when you come to make them.

Ooops...back to the kimchi. I mention quantities because Wade's book says use 10 cucumbers!!!! 10 frickin cucumbers? Forget it. Unless they are pigmi cucumbers or you are planning to feed the korean five thousand. The thing with oi kimchi is that it does not stay fresh for long. So make it and eat it...otherwise the cucumber goes soggy.

This recipe will make enough to use as a side dish for a meal with say 4 people.

Ingredients

1 large cucumber

sea salt - unground - about enough just to go in the palm of your hand
this is the type of salt you would put into a grinder. If you only have finely ground salt it doesn't matter too much.

4 cloves of garlic chopped finely

2 small green onions sliced diagonally so you get nice diamond shaped pieces (see picture at the bottom of the page for an example)

roughly 1 small handful of Korean red chilli powder - change according to taste

1/2 teaspoon of fresh finely chopped ginger

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of fish sauce - (myol chi sauce)
Don't be tempted to add any more than this

salt to taste

Directions

• Cut the cucumber horizontally into 2 inch long pieces and then then vertically through each circular piece to halve it. Then cut thse in half one more time so you have chunky 2 inches sticks. There is another way you can cut which is to not totally cut through the sections - make cross slits in them instead and then you can stuff the mixture inside.
  

• Rub the unground sea salt into the cucumber pieces and then leave them in a bowl for 2 hours to soften up and take in the salt.
  

• In the meantime, make a separate mixture with the green onions, red chilli powder, garlic and ginger. Add fish sauce and sugar. Also add salt to taste. You need it to be a bit salty but not too much because the cucumbers already have salt on.
  

• After the 2 hours is up rinse the cucumbers in a little cold water (not too much you don't want to lose the flavour) and then add them to the mixture rubbing it into the cucumber. Taste it and if it needs more chilli or anything else, then add some at this point.
  

• Put the mixture into a small container with a lid on so that the mixture and the cucumber is tightly packed together and then leave it in the fridge at least overnight.

Then voila....a nice lunchtime snack or dinner time side dish for the next day.

The picture below illustrates the way I recommend cutting the green onions..simply because it looks pretty :)