When I was little, I got on a kimchi-making kick with my mom. Kimchi takes days to ferment, and can be pretty stinky (we did it in the garage). I give credit to my mom for going along with this for several months – I think she thought of it as good mother-daughter bonding. But eventually we called it quits and went back to buying the ready-made jars at the Asian market. Until my dad started making these Shortcut Kimchi Cucumbers, which can be ready in less than an hour, but totally scratch my kimchi itch.

Guessipe

• 1 lb cucumbers, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 TBSP sugar
• 2 TBSP Korean red pepper powder
• 1 TBSP fish sauce
• 1 TBSP soy sauce
• 2 TBSP fresh ginger, thinly sliced into strips
• 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 small carrot, thinly sliced into 2-inch matchsticks
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced into 2-inch matchsticks
• 1/4 small onion, thinly sliced

Toss the cucumbers, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 TBSP sugar in a colander. Let stand 10 minutes.

Mix together the remaining 1 1/2 tsp salt and 2 TBSP sugar with the Korean red pepper, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic.

Toss the cucumbers, carrot, green onion, and onion in the marinade. You can be a bit flexible – I use whatever kind of onion I have (red, white, brown), and sometimes I leave out the onion or green onion if I don’t happen to have one of them on hand. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.