Korean Cucumber Salad Recipe (spicy, easy, vegan) - Carlo Cao (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a Korean cucumber and a regular cucumber? ›

Korean cucumbers are generally thinner and longer than other cucumber varieties and are typically used fresh to make pickles, side dishes, and salads.

The solution: The standard recommendation for ridding watery vegetable such as cucumbers of unwanted moisture is to salt them. The salt draws out the liquid from the vegetable because of the natural tendency of salt water solutions to equalize when mixed together.

On a work surface, place a piece of cucumber (or several) cut side down. Lay the blade of a large knife flat on top the cucumber and smash down lightly with your other hand. The skin will begin to crack, the flesh will break down and the seeds will separate. Repeat until the whole piece is smashed.

Best types of cucumber to use for Korean cucumber salad: Korean cucumber or Kirby cucumber. Japanese or Persian cucumber. There's no perfect substitute for Gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes). Please do not use Italian red pepper flakes as a substitute.

The aforementioned Persian cucumber is the cucumber of choice due to the fact that it is mainly a seedless cucumber with thin skin, making easy to digest. They tend to be shorter than English or Armenian, so they are easier to use up. Great for pickling, Kirby cucumbers have a thicker and bumpy skin.

Striped Armenian is one of the sweetest cucumbers. It has small seeds and thin skin. Though it looks like a cucumber, it is actually a melon—a species of Cucumis.

Salt the slices first. No matter the salad recipe you're making, salt the cut-up cucumber beforehand. The extra step allows them to release some of their water — keeping them extra crisp even when they get tossed with the dressing.

A cucumber's bitterness is caused by cucurbitacin, a bitter chemical that protects the plant from predators. Usually, cucurbitacin stays in the stem and leaves, but it can work its way into the fruit. A cucumber's bitterness is caused by cucurbitacin, a bitter chemical that protects the plant from predators.

After the cucumbers have been salted for a period of time, you'll want to rinse off the excess salt. At this point, you may be thinking 'what the hell, I just spent all this time removing the water! ' When we salt vegetables we're actually weakening the cell walls and therefore changing the integrity of the cucumber.

Persian cucumbers are thin-skinned and only grow to be about five to six inches long and remain quite narrow. These baby cukes are nearly seedless and extra crisp rather than watery, and have a mild, sweet flavor that's easy to fall for. You'll often find them in packages of a half-dozen or so.

How do you spice up raw cucumbers? ›

Cucumber flavor partners

Season cucumbers with salt, pepper, onion, garlic, dill, basil, mint, or tarragon.

Commonly used vegetables include Korean radish, napa cabbage, cucumber, potato, sweet potato, spinach, bean sprouts, scallions, garlic, chili peppers, seaweed, zucchini, mushrooms, lotus root.

Red leaf lettuce is probably the most common in modern ssam but other lettuces, steamed or parboiled cabbage, and kaenip (also known as perilla) leaves are also are popular.

Napa cabbage is a versatile vegetable that can be used in a variety of dishes, including soups, stews, and salads. It is also a key ingredient in kimchi, a traditional Korean dish made from fermented cabbage. Napa cabbage is a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as fiber.

Kirby Cucumbers

They have a range of skin color from yellow to dark green. Kirbys are wonderfully crunchy for eating raw, but flavorful enough to be perfect for pickling too. Sometimes, they're even sold under the name "pickling cucumbers."

A Persian cucumber is a small, tender cucumber with a smooth exterior, thin skin, and very few seeds. They're narrower than regular cucumbers and have a crisp interior and mild flavor, and they tend to be less watery than other cucumbers.

For starters, the texture is just not the same as regular cucumber. Though the taste is like a cucumber the texture is much more like a zucchini.

The Bottom Line

American and English cucumbers are both varieties of slicing cucumber, and they can be easily interchanged in recipes. American cucumbers are shorter and wider than the long, narrow English cucumbers and have a more bitter flavor. English cucumbers are sweeter and contain very few seeds.