Smashed Kimchi Cucumber

A couple of years ago I ate something approximating this in a restaurant in London. That much is all my cloudy memory will recall. In the absence of more details dropping like reels on the fruit machine into my mind, I have my own re-creation, this Smashed Kimchi Cucumber. I love the flavors of kimchi and this is very much a tribute to them, without the wait that making kimchi requires: the vinegar offers the sourness that fermenting usually provides. You could slice the cucumbers but the roughly smashed edges encourage the flavors into the flesh. 

A Word About Spices from Mark Diacono

I remember when my mother can home from the supermarket with a jar of mixed spice. She dusted her apple filling with this mysterious powder. Despite eating as much of the Sunday roast as I could, the spicy scent coming from the oven had me hungrier than when I came to the table. This is the power of well deployed spices: their scent makes your nose a promise that their flavors deliver on. This same effect occurs with my Smashed Kimchi Cucumber recipe.

Smashed Kimchi Cucumber

---

• Author: Mark Diacono
• Yield: Serves 4

Print Recipe

Description

This recipe is made even better since you don’t have to wait for the kimchi to ferment.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 large cucumbers, peeled 

• Generous pinch of salt 

• 1 tbsp rice vinegar 

• 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine 

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 

• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped 

• 1 tbsp sesame oil 

• 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chile flakes) 

• 1 tsp fish sauce 

• 1 tsp granulated sugar 

• Small handful of cilantro, sliced 

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Slice the cucumbers lengthways, then each half into four pieces. With the cut side face down on a chopping board, and one hand preventing the cucumber piece skating across the kitchen, use your knuckles to press into the back of the cucumber pieces with just enough pressure to lightly smash them a little. 
2. Add all but the cucumbers and coriander to a bowl and stir vigorously to incorporate thoroughly. Pat the cucumber pieces dry using a clean tea towel, then add them to the bowl and toss until thoroughly coated. Allow to rest and soak in the flavors for 5 minutes before serving.
3. Serve on a platter, sprinkled with the cilantro.   

Extracted with permission from Spice, by Mark Diacono (Quadrille Publishing $35).

Recipe and Photography by Mark Diacono 

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine‘s print edition.