This spicy cucumber salad is a super popular Korean banchan, or side dish, that is perfect for any Korean meal. It’s also extremely simple to make. All of the ingredients can be adjusted to fit your taste, so feel free to add more or less of any ingredient.
This dish is one of the first side dishes I was taught to make by my mother. It may seem like a small thing, but preparing Korean food is something that brings me closer to my Korean heritage. Growing up in a Korean-American household as a half-white, half-Korean girl, I had never really felt accepted by either side of the family. I didn’t look like the white side of my family, making me the odd one out. On the other hand, it felt like my fully Korean relatives were looking down on me for not knowing how to speak Korean, and for my brown hair which was easily noticed in the sea of my black-haired relatives.
Even today, not being “Asian enough” has been a struggle. However I am still trying to connect with my culture through Korean food and learning the language. Hopefully this recipe will connect with people who want to learn about Korean culture.
Ingredients
- 2 Persian or English cucumbers
- 1 green onion
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ tablespoons gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
Steps
Cut cucumbers into thin slices.
Add salt and massage it into the cucumbers. Set aside for around 30 minutes.
In the meantime, cut your green onion. (I recommend using kitchen scissors.)
After the 30 minutes have passed, squeeze the water out of the cucumbers into a separate bowl and discard.
Add the sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, green onion, and gochugaru together. Mix well.
(Optional) Wait for around 15 minutes for the cucumbers to absorb more flavor.
Enjoy!