Sautéed cucumbers
Oi-bokkeum
Today’s recipe is a quick, pan-cooked cucumber side dish called oi-bokkeum. It’s a great, refreshing side dish for rice, soup, or noodles, pretty much and Korean food. It has a light, nutty taste that makes all the other dishes on the table even more enjoyable.
I first tried this when I stayed at a Korean Buddhist temple a few years ago, researching my second cookbook. The head nun Wonhae made me a nice lunch when I arrived at the temple and this was one of the dishes. I couldn’t believe how simple and refreshing it was! Korean Buddhist monks don’t use ingredients like garlic or green onions, so their food is different than other Korean dishes and they have many techniques to make their dishes interesting and delicious. I love the crunchy texture! This dish is so easy you have to give it a try!
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 1 pound seedless cucumbers, sliced thinly
- 1½ teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, ground with a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder
Directions
- In a bowl, combine the sliced cucumbers with 1 teaspoon of salt and mix well. Set aside for 10 minutes until the cucumbers release their water.
- Place the cucumbers into a cotton cloth or a few layers of cheesecloth and squeeze tightly to remove excess water. Return the squeezed cucumbers to the bowl.
- Drizzle the sesame oil over the cucumbers and mix well.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cucumbers and sauté for 1 minute, then remove from the heat.
- Stir in the ground sesame seeds and transfer to a serving plate or bowl. Serve as a side dish.
