Cucumber Kimchi (Oi Kimchi)

DSC_5454 [1600x1200]Someone mentioned cucumber kimchi in comments over at a Reddit food thread and I promised to look into it.  There are a fair number of recipes out there and I happened onto this one as much by accident as anything.  Well, the “quick” in the title caught my eye.  LOL!  Naturally I ignored parts of the directions and cut the cukes into spears rather than the half-moons.  I used the long skinny English cucumbers because the only other option was the regular salad cukes with the big seeds in the core.  These are delicious!  There is a hint of heat but even Mrs J ate them without complaint.  Just a word about the red peppers in these kimchi dishes.  Although the red pepper flakes common in American recipes will substitute in a pinch, I don’t think you can do better than going ahead and buying a bag of the real thing – gochugaru.  I bought a big bag at the Asian foods specialty store and keep it in a zip bag in the freezer.  Amazon has plenty of choices.  I wonder how this is on a pizza?  I bet awesome!