Korean beef with cucumbers and zucchini

“I just want to point out to you that these Chilies are really very sharp. Are you sure you still want them?” – the lady at the weekly market looks at me questioningly as I point to the somewhat wrinkled-looking red chilies. I want. And she wasn’t exaggerating. Even cutting the chili gives me a coughing fit and my eyes water. These are hellish things! Just don’t rub your eye now, otherwise it will get really bad. I wash my hands twice and I can still smell a sharp taste on them afterwards. Brave as I was, I bought four of them, but decided to leave it to one for the dish. After all, it’s supposed to be eaten afterwards. I forgot to ask the name of these little devils at the market stall and unfortunately I can’t give any warning or recommendation at this point.
Actually this dish is in Korea exclusively with Cucumbers made. The cucumbers there are a little different, whiter fleshed and slightly sweet. A bit like our braised cucumber, but with a thinner skin. The small cucumbers – I recently discussed with my publisher whether they are called mini cucumbers, snack cucumbers or snack cucumbers – are perfect for this. And because there are still a lot of zucchini around and the very little ones somehow laughed at me, they were allowed to come along too. The different textures make the whole thing a little more exciting.
This dish is simply perfect lukewarm on hot days, but it’s not so great on hot days. It’s autumn and so it can be served a little warmer. And I also confess – I like to add a little butter to freshly cooked rice. Then you can no longer eat it with chopsticks, but if it itches…

the cutlery is original from Korea. The cutlery bench from the Kimchi Museum in Seoul

Chili paste at the market in Seoul

Korean beef with cucumbers and zucchini

For two

2 mini cucumbers
2 baby zucchini
1 tsp sea salt
300 g ground beef
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chili (depending on your taste, you can also use the very hot one)
3 cloves fresh garlic minced
1 scant teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 spring onion, finely chopped (save the green part for decoration)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tsp sugar
1 – 2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil

Slice the cucumbers and zucchini into 1 mm wide slices, place in a bowl and season with salt. Let it steep for 30 – 60 minutes.
In the meantime, in a second bowl, mix the minced meat with the soy sauce, chili, garlic, sesame oil, sesame, pepper and sugar.
Place the cucumbers and zucchini in a sieve and squeeze them out. Then wrap it again in kitchen paper and squeeze it out again.

Heat the oil in a pan. Fry the cucumbers and zucchini for about 30 seconds. Remove and let cool slightly on a large plate in one layer if possible.
Put the meat in the pan (add a little more oil if necessary) and crumble it into small pieces as possible while frying. Continue cooking over medium heat until the liquid has evaporated.
Also let cool down a little.
Mix with the vegetables and sprinkle with the greens of the spring onion and a little sesame.

Traditionally it is eaten lukewarm as a snack. However, that doesn’t stop me from eating this with some rice.