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Why It Works
- Salting, draining, and squeezing out extra moisture from the cucumbers permits them to soak up the assertively seasoned filling.
- With out fermentation, the greens keep crisp and candy, making this a lightweight and refreshing summer season kimchi that may be loved instantly.
This summertime banchan brings me again to my childhood, once I’d hold my aunt Younger Mi firm whereas she stuffed salted kirby cucumbers with meticulously reduce greens tossed in gochugaru, pausing often to pinch my cheeks along with her gochugaru-stained arms.
What Is Oi-Sobagi?
Oi-sobagi is the reply to satisfying a must eat kimchi instantly. Not like baechu kimchi, this stuffed cucumber kimchi isn’t fermented; it is meant to be loved recent, the identical day it’s made. With out the pucker of lactic acid fermentation, and the ready time required to realize it, oi-sobagi eats extra like a refreshing cucumber salad than a bitter pickle. The cukes, and the greens they’re full of, retain their crisp chew, whereas additionally selecting up fruity spiciness from gochugaru and savory funk from salted shrimp and fish sauce.
The Proper Cucumbers
Aside from requiring a bit of endurance and precision with vegetable knife cuts, making oi-sobagi is a breeze. It’s essential to start out with the best cucumbers for stuffing: they have to be unwaxed and durable sufficient to carry as much as being crammed. I’ve discovered that kirby cucumbers, which are sometimes grouped within the “pickling cucumber” class, are perfect for this recipe. Their thick skins and dense flesh make sturdier oi-sobagi that gained’t collapse after being salted and stuffed, which may be extra of a problem with longer English or Persian cucumbers.
The Primary Technique
When you’ve discovered the best ones, reduce them open, leaving them intact at one finish, and salt them to attract out extra moisture. Whereas they drain, put together the filling of julienned daikon, carrot, and Asian pear, which you may toss with garlic chives, scallions, fish sauce, salted shrimp, and gochugaru. Salt from the fish sauce and shrimp attracts out moisture from the greens, which is then absorbed by the chile flakes, which in flip will stain the slaw-like filling crimson. The cucumbers are then able to be stuffed, and loved (though they will even final for as much as per week within the fridge).
Serving
This candy, spicy, and salty banchan, with its cooling crunch, is a superb accompaniment to hearty stews like doenjang jjigae and miyeok-guk, or grilled meats like galbi.
August 2021
This Cool, Crunchy, Spicy Facet Is the Greatest Solution to Eat Cucumbers
Cook dinner Mode
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2 1/4 kilos (1 kg) kirby or pickling cucumbers (see notes)
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1 tablespoon (12 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt use half as a lot by quantity or an equal quantity by weight
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4 ounces (115 g) daikon radish, peeled and reduce into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks (about 1 cup; 100 g)
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1 medium carrot (4 ounces; 115 g), peeled and reduce into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks (about 1 cup; 100 g)
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1 small Asian pear (about 6 ounces; 170 g), peeled, cored, and reduce into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks (about 1 cup; 100 g)
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2 ounces (55 g) garlic chives, reduce into 2-inch items (about 1 cup)
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3 medium scallions (50 g), root finish trimmed and discarded, halved lengthwise, and reduce crosswise into 2-inch items
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3 medium garlic cloves (15 g), finely chopped
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1 tablespoon (20 g) saeujeot (Korean salted shrimp), drained of brine
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2 tablespoons (30 ml) fish sauce
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1/2 cup (55 g) coarse floor gochugaru (Korean chile powder)
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Utilizing a pointy knife, trim and discard each ends of the cucumbers. If utilizing lengthy cucumbers (about 10 inches), halve crosswise; for smaller kirby cucumbers, depart complete. Working with one piece of cucumber at a time, halve lengthwise, stopping 1/2 inch from the bottom to maintain cucumber intact. Rotate cucumber 90 levels and repeat reduce, producing a quartered cucumber held collectively at one finish. Repeat with remaining cucumbers.
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Set a colander inside a big bowl. Sprinkle cucumbers evenly with salt, seasoning the cut-open interiors in addition to the skins. Organize in colander, cut-side down, and put aside till cucumbers are softened, pliable, and have launched quantity of water into bowl, about half-hour. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup (60ml) of the salty cucumber liquid left in bowl; discard remaining liquid, and wipe out bowl.
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In now-empty bowl, mix daikon, carrot, Asian pear, garlic chives, scallions, garlic, saeujeot, and fish sauce. Utilizing clear arms, gently combine till totally mixed. Put aside till greens launch moisture and look moist on floor, about 1 minute.
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Add gochugaru and gently combine till gochugaru is totally included and begins to soak up liquid launched by greens, about 1 minute.
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Working with one cucumber at a time, gently squeeze cucumber to launch any residual extra moisture. Maintain cucumber by un-cut finish in your non-dominant hand and, utilizing different hand, decide up roughly 1/3 cup (70g) of the vegetable combination and gently stuff into cavity, taking care to maintain cucumber intact. Switch to a serving platter or container that may comfortably match cucumbers in a single layer. Repeat stuffing course of with remaining cucumbers. High oi-sobagi with any leftover filling and reserved cucumber liquid. Serve instantly, or cowl and refrigerate for as much as 1 week.
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Notes
This recipe works greatest with small, thick-skinned, agency kirby or pickling cucumbers. Persian or English cucumbers may be substituted, however they will not keep as crisp. Be sure to make use of unwaxed cucumbers.
Make-Forward and Storage
Oi-sobagi may be made prematurely and refrigerated in an hermetic container for as much as 1 week. Serve chilly or at cool room temperature.
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