Cool as a Cucumber Banchan (Simple Asian Cucumber Salad)
Are you like me? I hate making salads. I love salads, but prepping veggies, not so much. I only have enough bandwidth to prep maybe 1-2 fixings for a salad. Which means my salads are pretty darn boring. Helloooo, Banchan. Banchan are little appetizers plates that come with every Korean meal. Banchan can include seafood like fishcake but are generally comprised of vegetables such as soybeans, radishes, potatoes or CUCUMBERS (my favorite). It’s my veggie salvation. Instead of a salad, I pull out my jar of kimchi or pickled radishes, slice some cucumbers and splash a soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onion dressing on the cucumbers. So refreshing and delicious. Yep, rockin’ the banchan.
One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is the Japanese Behringer mandoline. I purchased mine when I was in school in Los Angeles a long time ago, and I mean a LONG time ago. Thirty years later it’s still going strong, it’s a great option if you don’t have a mandoline. It is sturdy, inexpensive and apparently very durable (I can vouch for that), find it here.
I love this little salad. It is stupid easy to make and delicious. I use soy dashi, (a combination of soy sauce and dashi, a fish-based stock) when I want a smokey, slightly briny taste to the cucumbers. Would be a lovely side dish with the Gochujang-Lime Salmon or the Braised Pork Belly rice bowl.
Cucumber Banchan
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber Japanese, English, Persian about 1 1/2 cup sliced for 1 cucumber
Dressing
- 1 Tbs soy sauce or Soy Dashi
- 2 Tbs rice vinegar
- 1 Tbs sugar
- 1/2 tsp Korean red chili powder
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Garnish
- 1/4 tsp sesame seeds
- 2 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Slice cucumbers into thin slices. Around 1/8 inch (3 mm).
- Mix soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and sugar in a bowl. Pour soy vinegar into the bowl with cucumbers.
- Then, add 1/2 tsp chili powder and sesame seeds. Mix and taste. Add more chili powder if you want. Doing it in this order allows you to taste and control the amount of chili powder based on how spicy you want it.
- Add chopped green onions and mix again.
- YOU ARE DONE!! Serve immediately for the freshest and crunchiest cucumbers. You can also let it sit for 10-15 minutes for the cucumbers to absorb the dressing before serving.