Korean Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim 오이무침)
Korean Cucumber Salad – is the only name I could come up with in English. Funny thing is, I also had a hard time with the Korean name too -is it Oi Muchim (오이무침) or is it Oi Saengche (오이생채)? As you can probably guess, “oi” means cucumber. But then the next word comes from different origins…
So, here’s a short Korean language lesson. Did you know that the Korean language vocabulary is made up of two different sets of words? One that originates from the Chinese characters (한자 Hanja) which is called Sino-Korean vocabulary and then another that is “pure” Korean that originates from Korean characters called Hangeul(한글). The great King Sejong created this phonetically based Korean alphabet Hangeul in 1443 because Koreans have their own spoken language but were borrowing Chinese characters to write. “King Sejong explained that the Korean language was fundamentally different from Chinese; using Chinese characters (known as hanja) to write was so difficult for the common people that only privileged aristocrats (yangban, 양반) could read and write fluently. The majority of Koreans were effectively illiterate before the invention of Hangul.”(Wikipedia) I think that’s pretty awesome.. don’t you? 🙂
So, Muchim means to ‘coat/toss in sauce” in pure Korean. Whereas Saengche comes from chinese word 生菜 which means ‘live vegetables’ as opposed to dead=cooked. Haha.. Well, anyway, so my Korean cucumber salad recipe can go by both, oi muchim or oi saengche. I have to let you you know that my recipe is not the common Korean cucumber side dish recipe where it is heavily coated in yangnyeom of chili powder and garlic. Those are really good too but I like my Korean cucumber salad to have a lighter seasoning which allows the refreshing taste of cucumbers to come through.
This Korean cucumber salad or side dish is great as a last minute kind of a side dish since it takes less than 5 minutes to make (depends on how fast you can cut! haha). This cucumber salad or muchim can be a great side dish to a BBQ or for lunch boxes. I actually got the idea to do this post after seeing one a recent post from a blog I follow. She has some really cute ideas for dosirak or lunchboxes so check her out!
Simple Korean Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim) Recipe
Servings: 2 Cooking Time: 5 min Difficulty: EASY
Ingredients are listed in Recipe Card below – and it’s adjustable too!
Step-by-step instructions for Korean Cucumber Salad
- Slice cucumbers into thin slices. Around 1/8 inch (3 mm).
- Mix soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in a bowl. Pour soy vinegar into the bowl with cucumbers.
- Then, add 1/2 tsp chili powder and sesame seeds. Mix and taste. If you like spicy stuff, add more chili powder. Doing it in this order allows you to taste and control the amount of chili powder based on how spicy you want it.
- Add chopped green onions and mix again.
- YOU ARE DONE!! Serve immediately for the most fresh and crunchy cucumber flavor. You can also let it sit for 10-15 minutes for the cucumbers to absorb the dressing.
Cook’s Tips
- You can refrigerate for few days and can be served cold. Just freshen it up with some fresh green onions and sesame seeds.
- My Korean cucumber salad or Oi Muchim recipe is more like a salad than the common, heavier seasoned, more spicy, and garlicky Oi Muchim that you see on most online recipes. The heavier seasoned Korean cucumber salad or Oi Muchim is good also but I kind of like this one because you can really taste the freshness of cucumbers.
If you have tried this Korean Cucumber Salad or any other recipe on my blog then please don’t forget to rate the recipe (top right of the recipe card below) and leave me a comment to let me know how you like it! I’d LOVE to hear from you! 😍
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST and INSTAGRAM or join my FACEBOOK GROUP to see other Korean recipes to ask and share everything about Korean food with others just like you!
Korean Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim 오이무침)
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber (Japanese, English, Persian, Pickling are all good) – about 1 1/2 cup sliced for 1 cucumber
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce (Jin Ganjang)
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp Korean red chili powder
- 1/4 tsp sesame seeds
- 2 green onions , chopped
Instructions
- Slice cucumbers into thin slices. Around 1/8 inch (3 mm).
- Mix soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in a bowl. Pour soy vinegar into the bowl with cucumbers.
- Then, add 1/2 tsp chili powder and sesame seeds. Mix and taste. Add more chili powder if you want. Doing it in this order allows you to taste and control the amount of chili powder based on how spicy you want it.
- Add chopped green onions and mix again.
- YOU ARE DONE!! Serve immediately for the most fresh and crunchy cucumber flavor. You can also let it sit for 10-15 minutes for the cucumbers to absorb the dressing before serving.
Tips & Notes:
My Korean cucumber salad or Oi Muchim recipe is more like a salad than the common, heavier seasoned, more spicy, and garlicky Oi Muchim that you see on most online recipes. The heavier seasoned Korean cucumber salad or Oi Muchim stands up well to heavier Korean BBQs whereas mine is more appropriate for lighter meals as sides to fried rice, fish, noodles, etc.
Nutrition Information:
If you don’t want or like soy sauce, you can make my Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad without Soy Sauce recipe – one of my followers told me she loves it so much that she makes it even with non-Korean meals.
Enjoy~ ❤
JinJoo
Leny says
I love Korean food and this is one of my favorites so i made this today, thank you for your recipe:) I don’t have korean red chili powder so i decided to sprinkle it with generic chili powder but i’m not satisfied with it (i’ll buy the korean chili powder next time)..instead i added half tbsp of gochujang i love it:D
JinJoo says
Hi Leny, Adding gochujang was a great idea! There’s actually another kind of recipe that has gochujang in it – probably a little less soy sauce but mostly similar. So glad you liked the recipe (even though you changed it a bit.. haha). Thank you so much for sharing. Take care,
Abby Scorsonelli says
Thanks for sharing! My grandmother is Korean and makes this and something very similar with bean sprouts. My cousins and I have tried to get the recipe from her for ages (esp now that she’s in her 80s), but it’s all “oh a little of this, a bit of that.” Give me details, lady! 🙂 This is the closest to how she makes it that I’ve found online. She uses red pepper flakes instead of chili powder though. Yum!
JinJoo says
Haha.. you and me both! I try to get recipes from my mother-in-law and what kills me is when she says 갖은 양념 (all sorts of seasonings).. So glad that you think this is close to your grandmother’s recipe! Most recipes online is more closer to Kimchi I feel. Red pepper flakes will work! She probably had to use that because that was easier to get.
Denise Coffer says
I’m sooooo glad I totally stumbled upon this site! Korean food is a favorite of mine! I go eat at a Korean restaurant by myself a lot just to chill and have amazing food!
I am making this today. I saw the question about the red chili powder and can’t get to a korean store today, but I do have a bottle of Nanami Togarashi. I think it’s Japanese and it says assorted chili pepper. Do you think that would be good, or should I stick with a substitute of chili powder and red pepper flakes?
JinJoo says
Fabulous!! Sooo glad you found me! I am not really sure how togarashi would work but should be OK. Maybe try half amount of togarshi and half chili powder? Test a little on the side how you like it. Love to hear how it turns out! Looking forward to cooking with you~:)
Sharon says
I made this yesterday – what a delicious treat. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
JinJoo says
Glad you liked it! Thank you so much for your comment.
Ginger says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I took three years of Korean in college, and I remember laboring through a reading comp exercise that described how to make 오이무침. I just made your version, and it was delicious and refreshing! Also, my assigned Korean name was 진주, so even cooler! I’ve also made your japchae, and it was excellent. Keep on rocking!
JinJoo says
Oh, no way!! What are the chances!! Thank you SO much for sharing your story. 진주 is the best Korean name ever – in my opinion – haha.. so I’m glad you got that name. All joking aside, so very good to hear that you liked my recipes. I am thinking of doing a simpler one pan recipe for Japchae so stay tuned! Cheers!