For those of you who’d like some homemade kimchee to go with Linda Sue Park’s recipe for bee-bim bop, here’s my mom’s recipe for cucumber kimchee. I always look forward to having some when I visit my family in Hawai’i. Thanks, Margaret — you’re the best Korean cook!
KOREAN CUCUMBER KIMCHEE
4-5 cucumbers (preferably Japanese cucumbers, which are smaller and crunchier)
about 1/4 cup kosher salt or Hawaiian sea salt/coarse
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
15 stalks chives, cut into 1/8″ lengths (do not chop)
1 T chili garlic sauce (can be found in Asian markets)
1 T ground Korean red pepper (dried)
sugar
1. Wash unpeeled cucumbers. Cut off ends and cut into 3/4″ bite-size quarter chunks.
2. Place in bowl and spread sea salt lightly. Toss and stir to distribute salt. Allow to sit about 1/2 hour. Rinse cucumbers in cold water and taste. If too salty, rinse cucumbers again in cold water. Drain in colander.
3. In mixing bowl, combine red pepper, dash of sugar, chili garlic sauce, garlic, ginger and chives. Add cucumbers and mix. Refrigerate. Ready to eat same day or several days later.
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Jama's Alphabet Soup 
Mmmmm. I might have to get past my dislike of cucumbers (sorry, sorry, but it’s true) for this dish.
Jules, 7-Imp
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Does this mean you don’t like pickles?
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oh YUMMMM
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I love cucumbers…that looks so good. Japanese cucumbers? Don’t think I’ve ever seen those though.
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Almost as good as ume!
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These are smaller, often called “pickling cucumbers.”
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You can also use pickling cucumbers.
james
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Ohhhh!! Well in that case, we have Japanese Cucumbers all over the place!
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Aren’t pickling cucumbers the same as Japanese cucumbers?
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Pickling cucumbers are much smaller than japanese cucumbers. They are different. They are used to make dill pickles. When Margaret can’t find Japanese ones, she also looks for regular pickling cucumbers.
james
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Thanks for the clarification. I didn’t know they were different!
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Jama, I thought of you yesterday when getting together a job application. I told my husband I was sending off my resume and children’s lit syllabus, and he asked, “What about your recipes?”
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Ooh!! Recipes? You must be holding out on us. Do tell!
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