Winter has been around for a while, but I sometimes crave summer food — especially a fresh and fiery Korean cucumber salad.

I just spent some time in Antalya, Turkey, for my winter holiday. The highest temperature was around 23 Celcius or 73 Fahrenheit which was like a Norwegian summer time.

Maybe the summer vibe got into my mind and world a little bit, so I want to enjoy something spring or summer-like.

So are you ready to embark on a summer culinary adventure that’s both refreshing and fiery?

Look no further than spicy Korean cucumber salad, or “Oi Muchim.” This delectable dish combines crisp cucumbers with a burst of flavors that will entertain your taste buds and leave you craving more.

Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad Recipe | Oi-muchim

Reasons to Love Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad

I love these Oi-muchim, spicy Korean cucumber salad so much for so many reasons and I hope you try making it at your home, too. Here are some reasons why this Korean cucumber salad is one of my favorite salads:

1. Quick and easy

Preparing Korean spicy cucumber salad is a breeze. It’s quick to make, but still so enjoyable. On busy days, when you want to add something more to the table, this is a great recipe to whip up in the kitchen.

2. Versatile side dish

This dish makes for a fantastic accompaniment to a wide range of Korean meals, from grills to noodle dishes. It can also be a delightful topping for a bowl of rice. But this salad can go well with all kinds of other international dishes as well, from curry to a salad next to boiled potatoes and stew.

3. Leftovers are amazing

The flavors of this cucumber salad tend to deepen and meld as it sits in the fridge, making it still delicious if not more, the next day. That means you can leave the leftovers after a meal in the fridge, or you can make this dish ahead for gatherings or a party.

So if you are looking for a new exciting side dish or a salad, this is the one! Let’s get ready to explore the zesty world of Korean spicy cucumber salad and elevate your culinary experience.

Korean Cucumber Salad vs Korean Cucumber Kimchi

If you love Korean cuisine, you may have encountered two refreshing dishes made with cucumbers: Korean cucumber salad (oi muchim) and Korean cucumber kimchi (oi kimchi). They may look similar, but they have some distinct differences that make them unique.

About Korean Cucumber Salad

Korean cucumber salad is a quick and easy side dish that is not meant to be fermented. It is made by slicing cucumbers thinly and tossing them with a simple dressing of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili powder, and sesame seeds. The salad is light and crisp, with a balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavors. It is best served cold or at room temperature and can be eaten right away or stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

About Korean Cucumber Kimchi

Korean cucumber kimchi, on the other hand, is a type of fermented pickle that can last for weeks or months. There are two ways to make cucumber kimchi: stuffed or cut up. Stuffed cucumber kimchi (Oi-Sobagi) features cucumbers cut into sections. Cooks stuff them with a spicy filling of garlic, ginger, green onions, chili flakes, fish sauce, and sugar. Korean cucumber kimchi usually includes fish sauce, but you can totally opt out of the fish sauce and simply replace it with more salt or equal parts of soy sauce. Cut-up cucumber kimchi (oi kimchi) is made by chopping cucumbers into bite-sized pieces and mixing them with the same filling.

Similarities and Differences

Both methods require salting the cucumbers first to draw out excess water and enhance the crunchiness. The cucumbers are then packed into airtight containers and left to ferment at room temperature for a few days, before transferring to the refrigerator. The kimchi develops a tangy, savory, and spicy flavor over time, and can be enjoyed as a side dish, snack, or ingredient for other dishes. The fermentation also makes the cucumber slightly more soft while the Korean cucumber salad will have the cucumber remaining crunchy.

As you can see, Korean cucumber salad and Korean cucumber kimchi are both delicious ways to enjoy cucumbers, but they have different preparation methods and flavor profiles. What I love about this spicy Korean cucumber salad is that it is naturally vegan, so I don’t have to alter the recipes drastically to enjoy this! 🥒

Choose Cucumbers in Season

Although you can get cucumbers at grocery stores all year round these days, it is best to buy cucumbers when they are in season. In Norway where I live, it is usually the summer time, which is from early June to mid-August. But in South Korea, where the latitude is lower, the cucumbers come out in April and May. In the rest of the world, the cucumber season’s peak is usually from May through August. This doesn’t have to stop us from having cucumbers in the winter, but you should definitely try this in the summer with seasonal cucumbers!

In Korea, people buy cucumbers in bulk and make them into kimchi so you can eat them for a long period as the cucumber kimchi is getting fermented. This oi-muchim, the cucumber salad can last for a week although I recommend eating it within a few days. Mine never lasts for that long 😀

Health Benefits of Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad

1. Detox with Cucumbers

The potassium component contained in cucumbers lowers the concentration of sodium and helps move nutrients and waste around your body’s cells. Another component in cucumber called isoquercitin helps prevent high blood pressure by expelling waste and excess salt accumulated in the body. Lastly, ascorbic acid contained in cucumbers has a diuretic effect that helps eliminate alcohol from the body, helping to relieve hangovers after drinking.

2. Hydration & Skin Health

Cucumbers are a low-calorie, hydrating vegetable that offers various health benefits. Cucumbers are composed of about 95% water, which makes them an excellent hydrating food. Staying hydrated is crucial for overall health, as it helps regulate body temperature, maintain bodily functions, and support various physiological processes. Especially in the summer when we sweat more, cucumbers are such a great snack. It’s incredible cucumbers are also in season during summer. Nature provides us with everything we need at the right time.

Not only do cucumbers offer hydration to our body by having water, but also by having silica! Cucumbers contain silica, a compound that is beneficial for skin health. Silica is involved in the production of collagen, which helps maintain skin elasticity and hydration.

I explained how hydration is so important for your skin health here in this blog: Beauty Tips for Beginners | Three Pillars of Skincare I learned from K-beauty

3. Regulates Blood Sugar & Weight Loss

One of the key ingredients in this Korean Cucumber Salad recipe is the vinegar. And vinegar has so many amazing health benefits, but to pick one, I’d say it can regulate blood sugar.

The practice of using vinegar for weight loss traces back to the 1700s. This enzyme called AMPK, known as the “fat-controller” in the body, seems to underlie various positive metabolic effects. Because of that, I’ve read a couple of articles in beauty magazines that some of the Victoria’s Secret models start their meals off with a spoonful of vinegar. However, Dr. Michael Greger recommends vinegar in food or diluting it in water for safer consumption without irritating your stomach. Eating this Korean Cucumber Salad Oi-muchim is a perfect example of safely consuming vinegar!

One significant advantage of vinegar is its ability to blunt blood sugar and insulin spikes following a meal. This applies to both healthy individuals and those with blood sugar disorders like diabetes. A systematic review and meta-analysis of trials exploring vinegar’s impact on blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes reveal improvements in both short-term and long-term measures. An additional benefit observed was a notable reduction in cholesterol levels. Interestingly, the type of vinegar, whether apple cider or not, didn’t seem to affect the outcomes, as all vinegar inherently contains the active ingredient: acetic acid.

What Makes this Recipe Special

So now that you’ve learned about all the great things about Korean cucumber salad, I want to tell you why this recipe makes the Korean cuc salad even more special 😉

1. It doesn’t smell

In Korean cuisine, there are a lot of raw aromatics involved like raw onions and garlic.

I love the taste of it but do not enjoy the mouth smell after I’ve eaten. So how do I still eat a handful of onions and garlic?

I simply lightly cook them before serving. That way, I can still enjoy these beautiful aromatics while not having my mouth smell like onions and garlic throughout the day.

There are three ways to do it.

• Lightly heat them. The key here is to just lightly heat them so you still retain the crunchy texture while removing the smell.
• Leave the onions in the water for 30 minutes then take them out.
• Use the powder form. This is one of my favorite ways to include garlic in my recipes. When I don’t have time to chop the garlic and heat it before serving, I just use the powder.

The garlic powder I use is: Simply Organic Garlic Powder.

2. Use Date Syrup

Date syrup has so many other contents that sugar lacks – fiber, minerals, and antioxidants.

In Korea, people use plum extract instead of sugar.

In many Korean households, sugar is quite rarely used and people substitute it with some extract.

I like to use date syrup or date sugar as my sweetener. It also has a low glycemic index, which means that it doesn’t spike your blood sugar level as quickly and high as sugar.

I recommend 100% date syrup like this one:

Date Syrup in Squeeze Bottle Kosher Israeli Product by Yad Mordechai 380g.

Kreamy Vegan

Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad Recipe

Make this scrumptious Korean-style cucumber salad, “Oi-Muchim”

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Korean

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

Vegetables

• 2 Cucumbers
• 1/2 Onion Julienned and lightly cooked
• 1/2 Carrot Julienned
• 1 tsp Salt

Ingredients for Sauce

• 2 tbsp Gochugaru (Korean chili pepper flakes)
• 2 tbsp Date Syrup
• 2 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp Garlic powder
• 2 tbsp Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Sesame seeds Roasted

Method

 

1. Wash the cucumbers and slice them. Typically, they are sliced into 0.5cm thick.
2. Julienne onion and carrot. Then lightly cook the onion either by blenching quickly or microwaving them for 30 seconds.
3. Sprinkle salt on cucumber, onion, and carrots. Mix and set it aside.
4. Make the sauce by mixing all of the ingredients for the sauce.
5. Pour the ready sauce into the vegetable mix and mix them well. Enjoy!

Tips for Korean Cucumber Salad

1. Make it Less Smelly

I always lightly cook aromatics in my recipes, such as onions, green onions, and garlic.

Raw aromatic vegetables make my mouth smell after eating, and I want to avoid that.

Korean cuisine tends to use a lot of raw aromatics and while they are delicious, I think you can still get the flavor after cooking the aromatics.

But you can just use them raw.

2. Swipe it with Raw Garlic

If you want to use the aromatics raw, then you can opt for 1/2 tbsp of raw minced garlic in this recipe.

3. Add More Veggies

You can add more vegetables to this recipe.

One of the most common ingredients added to this Oi-muchim is chives.

It is not common, but I like to add some shredded purple cabbage for more crunch and nutrition.

My Comments

Especially during summer when you don’t have so much appetite, this sweet and sour, crisp, and refreshing salad can surely bring your appetite back.

It has a rollercoaster of flavors and a spicy kick – the spicy, tangy sauce ignites your palate with a delightful heat from gochugaru.

It’s a harmonious combination that’s simply irresistible. And it’s quick and easy to make, and the leftovers are great.

So why wait? Give it a try today!

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