Pickled Cucumber Side Dish
Turn Asian pickled cucumbers into a spicy salad to eat with rice. Korean chili flakes and a hint of sugar makes a delicious Korean side dish to serve with rice. It’s a great way to enjoy pickled cucumbers.
Summer in Korea is quite hot and humid. People often complain that they lost their appetite and looking for something that spikes up their lost appetite.
Cool, crunch, and slightly spicy and sweet, this pickled cucumber salad can stimulate the lost appetite in the hot summer. This is one of very common summer Korean side dishes in any Korean table and it is very simple to make.
If you like fresh cucumber recipes, try my homemade cucumber kimchi, Korean Spicy Cucumber Salad and Vietnamese cucumber salad. You will like the taste of those dishes.
Korean Pickled Cucumber
Look for air-vacuumed pickled cucumber in the refrigerate section of Korean stores. These cucumbers are pickled in simple salt, vinegar, sugar brine and ready to tackle with flavors you are going to add.
How to make pickled cucumber side dish
Slice thinly.
You want to soak them in the cold water for 10 minutes to dilute the brine solution a little.
Squeeze them to death, because you love her. But I don’t mean it literally. You know that, right?
Add the Korean chili flakes, sugar, sesame oil, garlic powder, green onion, and sesame seeds.
Mix all together with your hand. That’s all there’s to it!
For some wicked reason many Koreans like to eat this pickled cucumber salad with leftover rice dumped in cold water. I know it sounds weird to dump the rice in the cold water, but it is actually pretty good to eat that way with this salad.
This was my simple lunch and I was happy. And so was my stomach.
Pickled Cucumber Side Dish
Ingredients
- 1 lb Korean pickled cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1.5 tablespoon Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Korean plum extract (maeshil cheong), optional
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1-2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Soak the cucumber slices in cold water for 10 minutes to dilute the brine a little. Drain and squeeze out the excess water.
- Place the cucumber slices in a mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredient, and toss well. Adjust the amount of sugar according to the sweetness you desire. Serve with rice.
Holly, I would love the recipe for brining the cucumbers. I’ve scoured the web many times looking for it.
You see, I grow Korean cucumbers every year in my garden. I have over 30 plants this year and I’m pulling about 10 cukes per day. Thanks in advance! (BTW – Korean cukes are the finest in the world – I’ve grown them all 🙂 )
Hi Holly, can you tell me how long the leftovers would last in the fridge? Thank you!
Since the cucumbers are already pickled, the dish will last quite long. I would try to finish within 2 weeks though.
My mother and me both make this side dish with American pickles, too, and it tastes very good. We do not have a lot of markets near us that sell traditional Korean foods, so we just use what we have. It gives pickles a whole new delicious flavor that we enjoy.
Hi Laura, that is so neat that you used the American pickles for this recipe. Glad that it came out delicious. You are right! It gives a whole new delicious flavor to ordinary pickles.
I know I will love this dish. Just hope I can find this cucumber.
I love those pickled cucumber very much especially in hot summer when I do not want to stay in my kitchen for a long time. And this is really inviting and appealing. We have very similar Sichuan style pickled vegetables but cucumber is not a common ingredient. I guess it will be super good when serving with rice or porridge.
Ah ha! So that’s what I can do with Korean pickled cucumbers! I always just serve them on the side plain, much like Western pickles – this is much more interesting! I found you through a comment you left on China Sichuan Food, it was your blog name that caught my eye, love it!! (especially as I have a huge weakness for Kimchi….it is the ultimate diet food, I could eat it all day every day!!)
Hi Nagi
Yes, it will add a nice flavor to the ordinary pickled cucumber into something else. I do have a huge weakness for Kimchi as well, of course!
I like how simple this is! Plus, there’s no need to turn on the stove to make it!
Yes, I always look for an idea to make a dish that I don’t actually need to cook! Thanks, Mary.
It is hot… it was 90F (32C) today in Tokyo and all I wanted was something cold like cold noodles and cold salad! This pickled salad looks delicious and oh so easy to make!
Brings back memories of my childhood… I recently poured some water over my bowl of rice, and my two young children thought it was so funny. I had lost my appetite in the heat of the summer. I think I will go to the market and get some pickled cucumbers tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories and recipes.
So excited to hear that someone else knows about the pouring water over rice to enjoy this side dish! It does taste better that way for some weird reason, right?
Yes, I did prepare your pickled cucumber salad today and enjoyed it with a bowl of rice covered in water. My father used to call this kind of ban chan “rice thief” because it tastes so good and you keep eating. That’s comfort food for me. Thanks!