EATS: Spicy Asian Cucumber Recipe

I’ve been developing various Asian recipes (I'll be sharing a lot of them with you here on the
blog).  When it came to thinking of side dishes, my wife begged me to create my take on Asian Spicy Cucumbers.  When she was a Visiting Scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing, this was one of her favorite dishes. She enjoyed them so much she frequently would eat spicy cucumbers for breakfast. Of course, I obliged.

I knew I wanted to respect the traditional Chinese spices and I also wanted to incorporate my own interpretation and signature to it.  I decided to add Japanese shichimi togarashi (7 spices: red chili pepper, sansho (Japanese pepper, similar to Szechuan peppercorns), orange peel, sesame seeds, hemp seed, ground nori, and ginger) to my recipe.  Asian Spicy Cucumbers are somewhat similar to pickles. Traditionally, pickles are fermented and the bacteria from the fermentation is what gives them their sour note.  Spicy cucumbers on the other hand have a similar sour kick that you achieve in a much shorter time due to the vinegar.  The spicy cucumbers are also different from pickles because the cucumbers maintain their freshness and are crisper. This makes spicy cucumber a more hearty and truly delicious side dish. 

I knew that I had nailed this Chinese/Japanese spice combo when both my wife and my 16 year old daughter—who both live for spicy foods—polished the spicy cucumbers off in one sitting. You can serve this dish on it's own, or I also like to thinly slice and serve on sandwiches to give them a crunchy, spicy kick. The level of spice is mild on this recipe so if you want to kick it up a notch you can add spicier peppers.  Japanese cuisine is not known for being particularly spicy.  Generally any Japanese chili products are fairly mild.  Fortunately because this recipe combines both Chinese and Japanese ingredients, you can easily incorporate hotter Chinese peppers.

Below you'll see how to make my Asian Spicy Cucumbers.

ASIAN SPICY CUCUMBERS RECIPE

• 5 (400 grams) Persian cucumbers

• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) kosher salt 

• 2 Cloves garlic, ½ teaspoon (2 grams)

• 2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon (30 grams) rice wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon (8 grams) Kochujung

• ¼ teaspoon (1/2 gram) Togarashi

• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) Chili Sesame Oil (Layu)

• 1 Tablespoon (16 grams) Sugar

• 2 teaspoons (12 grams) Soy

• ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) Sesame Oil

  INSTRUCTIONS

• Cut cucumbers in half and then into 2 inch pieces.  Salt and let sit for 30 minutes in a colander over the sink or a larger bowl. Allow water from cucumbers to drain.  This is an important step
  because it seasons the cucumber and it also draws out the water to give you crisper cucumber.  Some water in the cucumber is fine but you don't want excess water to dilute the vinegar. This step gives you the right texture for the dish.

• Rinse cucumbers in cold water and set aside.

• Combine all other ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with a
  whisk

• Add the cucumbers to the mixture. Toss, making sure
  that the  cucumbers are saturated in as much marinade as possible

• Transfer the cucumbers and dressing into a non-reactive (glass or plastic work well) container.  Seal and let cucumbers marinate in refrigerator overnight