Easy Korean Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim)

This easy Korean cucumber salad (oi muchim) is great as a side dish (banchan) for hot summer days when you want something quick, sweet, tangy, and refreshing.

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4.97 from 27 votes

Table of Contents

• What is Korean Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim)?
• What Kind of Cucumbers To Use
• Ingredients for Korean Cucumber Salad
• How to Make Korean Cucumber Salad
• Joyce's Tips for the Best Korean Cucumber Salad
• Can I Make it Ahead of Time?
• How to Serve with This Korean Cucumber Salad
• FAQs
• More Salad Recipes You May Like
• Recipe Card
• Looking for More Korean Recipes? Try These!

If you're looking to serve something light and refreshing at a bbq, then this Korean cucumber salad is the one. Not only is it super easy to make, but the sweet tanginess and refreshing crunch also go very well with any type of grilled meat.

Keep in mind that cucumbers are very watery, so if you do plan to take this cucumber salad to a party or event, there are a few extra steps required if you plan to make it ahead of time to prevent a lot of waterlogging.

This is my go-to recipe when I want to make a quick vegetable side without much fuss.

I also love adding this to my rice bowls (like my Tuna Mayo Deopbap Rice Bowl) to give them another layer of flavor instead of using plain sliced cucumbers.

What is Korean Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim)?

Oi muchim (Korean Cucumber Salad) is a spicy korean cucumber salad made with cucumbers, gochugaru, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic, and toasted sesame seed oil.

Similar to sunomono which is a Japanese cucumber salad that doesn't have any spiciness or chili flakes in it, Korean cucumber salad is light and refreshing with a sweet and tangy flavor with a bit of spiciness from the gochugaru (Korean chili flakes).

There are many versions of oi muchim recipes out there and some have gochujang in them. This cucumber salad is made without gochujang because I like it less spicy and more light.

What Kind of Cucumbers To Use

Left: English Cucumber, Right: Mini Cucumbers

For the best tasting Korean cucumber salad, I like to use seedless cucumbers or cucumbers without a lot of seeds like the mini cucumbers or English\Persian cucumbers (which are almost the same thing).

Try to avoid field cucumbers, they usually have a dark green thick skin and have very large seeds in the middle. That being said, you can still use them, but if you do, use a spoon to scrape out all the seeds and peel the cucumber before using it.

Ingredients for Korean Cucumber Salad

• Cucumber - For this Korean cucumber salad recipe, my first choice of cucumber to use are mini cucumbers, then English\Persian cucumbers. Try to avoid using field cucumbers (the dark green thick-skinned cucumbers).
• Green Onions - Raw onions can be very strong and spicy in salads, especially if you don't draw out the moisture with salt or soak them in water/acid for a long period of time. For this reason, I only use green onions/scallions in this salad. Green onions are much milder and still give that great oniony flavor without overpowering the salad.
• Gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) - I only use gochugaru and do not use any gochujang in this cucumber salad because I wanted to keep it lighter and less spicy.
• Soy Sauce/Sugar/Sesame Oil - These 3 ingredients are also a must for the cucumber salad dressing. You can substitute soy sauce with fish sauce but other than that I wouldn't change this trio.
• Rice Vinegar - I like to use rice vinegar for the dressing because it is a milder vinegar, but if you don't have it you can substitute it with white vinegar.
• Sesame Seeds - Sesame seeds must be toasted to get the best flavor for the salad. If you want to skip toasting it, you can buy the pre-toasted at Korean supermarkets.
• Garlic - You definitely don't want to skip adding the garlic as it is the star of the recipe and brings the whole recipe together.

How to Make Korean Cucumber Salad

Preparation

1. Cut both tips off the ends of the cucumbers and discard them.
2. [English Cucumbers] Cut the cucumber in half length-wise and slice the cucumbers into ⅛-inch slices. They should look like thin half-moons.
3. [Mini Cucumbers] Slice the cucumbers into ⅛-inch slices. They should look like round circles.
4. Grate or finely mince the garlic and set it aside.
5. Finely slice the green onions (including the whites, but discard the tips with the roots) and set them aside.
6. Toast the sesame seeds until they are golden brown (unless you bought them pre-toasted) and set them aside to cool.

Make the Korean Cucumber Dressing

5. In a small bowl, mix together the gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, toasted sesame oil, and garlic.

Mix Everything Together

6. In a larger bowl, mix together the cucumber, green onions, toasted sesame seeds, and the dressing until every cucumber slice is coated with the sauce.
7. Serve immediately, or let it sit and marinate for 5-10 minutes before digging in!

Can I Make it Ahead of Time?

Yes, you can make this ahead of time but it will require some extra steps to prevent it from being waterlogged.

1. You will need to remove the seeds from the cucumber which has extra water in it. Use a spoon to scrape it out before slicing the cucumber.
2. Sprinkle salt on the cut cucumbers for 15 minutes to draw out more of the water from the cucumber. Rinse off the salt and dry the cucumbers with a towel.
3. Premake the dressing (add the green onions and sesame seeds in with the dressing) but don't put it on until you are ready to serve it.
4. When you are ready to make it or bring it to an event, mix in the dressing and store it in a well-sealed container. With the excess liquid removed from the cucumber, it will last for 1 day in the fridge. It may still contain some excess water, but we removed it as much as we could.

How to Serve with This Korean Cucumber Salad

This Korean cucumber side dish is not only very quick to make, but is also very versatile with what it can be served with and is not just limited to having it as a Korean side dish (banchan). Here are a few ways I like to use this spicy cucumber salad at home.

• Rice Bowls (and Noodle Bowls) - Adding this to rice bowls like my Tuna Mayo rice bowl adds a bit of veggies to the dish and keeps it a bit lighter. You can also add them to vermicelli bowls like my Shrimp vermicelli bowl recipe as well to give it some extra flavor.
• At Korean BBQ or with grilled meats - Serving this at any type of BBQ, especially one with a lot of grilled meats helps lighten up the meals. I like to serve this as a side whenever I make my Vietnamese lemongrass chicken, Thai Coconut Skewers and Vietnamese lemongrass porkchops.
• Bulgogi - Whenever I make my spicy pork bulgogi, I like to add this cucumber salad as a side with a bit of white rice to balance out the spiciness.
• Tacos - Instead of a slaw, I like adding this cucumber salad to my Crispy Chicken Tacos because it has a lot of extra spicy flavor.
• Fresh Spring Rolls - These wraps are already very light and loaded with veggies, but to keep things flavorful I add this cucumber salad to give it a pop of flavor.

More Salad Recipes You May Like

• Kani Salad (Japanse Crab Salad)
• Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad)
• Yum Woon Sen (Thai Glass Salad)
• Watermelon Feta Salad
• Japchae (Korean Glass Noodle Stir Fry)
• Curtido (Salvadoran Pickled Slaw)

Did You Make This Spicy Cucumber Salad?

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