Korean-Style Cold Cucumber Soup

 Korean-Style Cold Cucumber Soup Tested by Emily Mak

Reposted with permission by emak -- Thanks Emily!

Guest Blogger: Emily Mak of Eating With Emily

There has been a lingering heat wave for the past few weeks which makes turning on the stove an activity I’m trying to avoid like the plague. Cold foods which require no or minimal cooking is ideal.  I found a cold cucumber soup recipe on www.maangchi.com and decided to make it for dinner.  The recipe is extremely simple with only a handful of ingredients needed.  It’s definitely not what one would think a soup to be, but it’s absolutely refreshing…a cold hot (spicy) and sour soup per se. 

Korean-Style Cold Cucumber on Maangchi

Ingredients:
Cucumber
garlic
green chili pepper
red hot chili pepper
green onion
1½ tbs vinegar
1 ts salt
1 ts fish sauce
1 ts sugar
1½ cup of cold water (purified or boiled and cooled down)
6 ice cubes

Directions:

1. Get a bowl ready, one that can hold more than 2 cups. One that is made of glass looks the best.
2. Put about 1¼ cups of cucumber, cut into thin strips (julienne style), into the bowl.
3. Mince one clove of garlic, chop up half a green onion, and cut up 1 or 2 ts worth of green chili pepper (depending on how hot you like it). Add them to the cucumber strips in the bowl.
4. Add 1 ts of salt, 1 ts of fish sauce, 1 ½ tbs of vinegar, 1 ts of sugar to the bowl and mix it well with a spoon.
5. Pour 1½ cup of cold water (purified or boiled and cooled down) to the bowl and mix it.
6. Add 6 ice cubes.
7. Cut some red hot chili pepper to garnish and sprinkle on the top of the soup.
8. Serve it with rice.

To read more about Emily's culinary adventures, check out her blog: eating with emak.