
Miso, ginger, garlic Braised (spicy) Overgrown Cucumbers
Heat a teaspoon of roasted sesame oil with 1-2 Tbs vegetable oil (I used safflower) medium-low. Add a sliver of fresh ginger. Peel overgrown cucumber in alternate strips, then slice into1/4-1/2" disks. Place directly in hot oil in a single layer -- it should be just enough to sizzle but not pop or spatter.
Scatter a large garlic clove sliced (heat should be low enough that garlic will toast slowly but not burn). Add about a TBS of koji miso -- cut into small bits in the oil with a knife and spread around. Add a whole fresh hot pepper (mine was a 1-1/2" Hot Lemon Drop.
Turn the cucumber slices when the bottom is translucent and caramelized. Keep an eye on the garlic and make sure they don't burn -- pull them out when toasted. Pull out the miso bits before they are burned also. They should be put on the serving plate and on top of the finished cucumbers as they are removed from the pan.
Keep moving the hot pepper around. Turn the cucumber on top of garlic and miso and sometimes swirl the pan to make sure nothing is sticking. Cucumber will benefit from being flipped two more times to soak up the flavored oil. Toss in about 1/8-1/4 tsp of whole cumin seeds towards the end. Season with salt if needed/desired, but the miso should be salty enough.
Cucumbers are done when the entire slice is translucent with nice caramelization going on on both surfaces. Scrape up all the garlic, miso, and toasted cucumber seeds before they burn and scatter on top of the cucumbers.
I thought these were great with cooked brown rice.