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Korean Spicy Cucumber Salad
This spicy cucumber salad (Oi Muchim) has got to be the easiest side dish (banchan) ever – only 15 minutes from start to finish (includes washing up for me hehee).
See Also:
- Korean Spinach Salad Recipe
- Korean Mung Bean Sprouts Salad Recipe
- Easy Korean Side Dishes (Banchan) Recipes
Although this is a Korean dish, I serve it with any cuisine (especially Chinese) as a quick “green” on the table.
There is no cooking involved. Just cut the cucumbers and season it with chilli powder, spices and aromatics. I don’t even measure (except when documenting this recipe) because it’s so flexible to season to taste. I like mine with a bit more chilli powder and sesame oil.
For local cucumber, halve it lengthwise then cut to half moon slices.
For Japanese cucumber, halve lengthwise & cut diagonally.
Place cut cucumber in a large bowl and sprinkle Korean chilli powder over them.
As a short-cut to fresh minced garlic & minced onion, I use garlic powder and onion powder (disclosure: both are affiliate links). The short-cut makes this quick recipe even quicker though fresh ones will work totally well.
Sesame oil …
… and the rest of the ingredients (soy sauce, s&p, sesame seeds & spring onions).
Stir to coat everything evenly with a spatula and season to taste as you are doing so.
Done! :)~~~ This cucumber salad looks and tastes best at this point.
And this is made with Japanese cucumber. Just as delicious :)~
So crunchy, flavourful and delightful…the perfect cucumber salad!
My kind of side-dish too! I And just how I would make it – without adding salt to remove excess moisture from cucumbers, and without removing the seeds from the core of the cucumbers. :p
Where can I get Korean chilli powder as per your recipe?
Thanks
you can find it at Korean supermarkets such as SHINE.
A few questions: I don’t have the chili powder, can I use the Korean chili paste instead? Do the sesame seeds have to be toasted and can I use black instead of white? Thanks.
Using Korean chilli paste will be a different taste and consistency, you can use it if you like. I really recommend Korean chilli powder for this recipe though (you can find it at Korean supermarkets). And yes, for best results toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan before use.