Cucumber Kim Chee

I’ve been watching Anthony Bourdain’s "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel. It’s similar to his "Cook’s Tour" on the Food Network, and it’s even better because it's an hour vs. half an hour. My favorite parts are when he has meals in people’s homes, "real" food, with "real" people. Last week he was in Korea. They showed how kim chee is made. I’ve never tried it but have always wanted to. It didn’t sound all that appetizing on the show, though, with fish sauce and oysters to help ferment it.

Anyway, Carol gave me some cucumbers from her garden. Instead of the usual cucumber salad, I looked through a cookbook my aunt gave to me. It’s an Asian cookbook, the "community" style that Debbie had mentioned, put together by the Japanese American Services of the East Bay (JASEB). It's my favorite Asian cookbook. Whenever I want to put an Asian twist on something I'll see what goes into the dish, like teriyaki or wonton. Since it's by regular people (Asian-Americans living in America, cooking Asian food with what's available in the USA) and not chefs, there aren't too many complicated ingredients or procedures. There was a recipe for Cucumber Kim Chee in it, without any unappetizing ingredients.

I used the Benriner (it's an Asian mandolin slicer, my brother calls it the "finger slicer - I've always been intimidated by it) to slice the cucumber paper thin, salted it, poured hot water over the mess and let it sit 30 minutes, then drain. I put it all into a jar and covered it with a sauce of water, vinegar, sugar, sliced garlic, and chili powder. The next day, it looked like kim chee. It reminds me of tsukemono (the pickled cabbage you get at Japanese restaurants) with a kick. Yum. I think it’s an acquired taste, though. I’ve been missing California and good Japanese food, so this helped with the homesickness a little bit.