Korean Cucumber Salad is a sweet and spicy side dish that’s perfect for a BBQ alongside other Korean dishes. If you’re looking for something fresh to add to the table, give this easy salad a try!
There is nothing more refreshing than a cold, cucumber salad. I’m a sucker for any salad that calls for a good amount of crunchy sliced cucumbers (like this Green Goddess Salad).
Korean Cucumber Salad is the perfect mix of spicy, sweet, smokey and cool. It’s an incredibly easy side to throw together but is also packed with flavor. Filled with crunchy cucumbers, Korean red pepper flakes, fresh garlic, and the tangy flavors of rice wine vinegar and soy sauce–what’s not to love?
This Korean Cucumber Salad recipe, sometimes called spicy Korean cucumber salad, can be enjoyed as a light and fresh snack. It’s even more popular as a perfect side dish with Korean barbecue or as part of a Beef Bibimbap bowl.
Food from South Korea is so flavorful, unique and savory. I dive a little further into its history and origins in this post.
Recipe Origins
Korean Cucumber Salad is called Oi Muchim or Oi Saengchae in Korean, depending on which version of the Korean alphabet you use. Oi means cucumber and muchim means “seasoned.”
This Korean cucumber side dish is a popular appetizer or banchan side dish.
Banchan, also called banchang, are unlimited side dishes or appetizers that go along with a main course in a Korean meal. Banchan dishes are often vegetables that are pickled, fermented, seasoned or sauteed. They are placed on the table for all diners to share and enjoy and are usually served with rice.
Banchan dates back to about 300 AD at a time when there was a lot of Buddhist influence in Korea. Vegetables became the focal point of many meals. As times have changed, banchan has remained a popular part of a Korean meal from street food to even a high-end Korean restaurant.
Why Make This Recipe
- Quick Recipe: This easy Korean cucumber salad takes just minutes to throw together in a mixing bowl, but the ingredients create an explosion of flavor. The only time-consuming part about this recipe is waiting for the salt to draw out the excess moisture from the cucumber. It’s an easy side dish to serve with meat.
- No Cooking Required: This delicious recipe is perfect for a summer BBQ. No need to add any heat, and it can be ready in minutes! The fresh cucumber slices offer a refreshing crunch.
- Taste of Korea. The table is often full of small side dishes during a Korean meal and this is a popular choice. It pairs nicely with so many Korean recipes and is so simple to put together.
What Do I Need to Make This Recipe?
Ingredients
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
- Korean Cucumber: Korean cucumbers are thin and long. They offer an excellent crunch and small seeds. They are also sweet and don’t have any bitterness. If you can’t find Korean cucumbers, just about any thin and long cucumber will work. Persian cucumbers and English cucumbers are usually easy to locate in America. Cucumbers with larger seeds will become soggy too quickly.
- Gochugaru: Korean Red Chili Flakes, or gochugaru, is a red chili flake or powder that’s popular in Korean cooking and can usually be found in an Asian grocery store. It has a spiciness and sweetness to it that makes for the best flavor. American cayenne pepper or chili powder are just not the same. You can buy it online here (affiliate)
- Scallions: The scallions in this recipe balance out the sweetness of the cucumber. Some recipes also call for chopped onion. Any are fine, but if you feel the taste of chopped onion are too strong, try the scallions instead.
- Minced Garlic: Chop your garlic very fine so it can mix well in the sauce. You could also use minced garlic from a jar.
- Dressing: The soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil combine to make a savory dressing that is perfect with the crisp cool flavor of cucumber. If possible, search for Korean sesame oil.
Tools
- Knife: It doesn’t get much easier than this. All you need for this recipe is a sharp knife to cut up your cucumbers and a large bowl to mix your ingredients.
- Bowl: Honestly the dish you use to mix up the ingredients doesn’t matter. Just throw them together and you’re good to go!
How to Make This Recipe
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Step 1: Prepare Your Cucumbers
Slice cucumbers and sprinkle them with the salt in a large bowl. Let the cucumbers sit for about 30 minutes until the salt removes the water from the cucumbers and the cucumbers can be folded in half without breaking.
Rinse the cucumbers to remove the excess salt. Squeeze the cucumbers in a paper towel or a clean dish towel to remove excess water.
Step 2: Combine Your Ingredients
Add the scallions, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar into the bowl. Mix to combine your sauce ingredients, then pour your sauce over your cucumbers. Sprinkle the cucumbers with Korean Red Chili Flakes and mix again.
Sprinkle the Korean Cucumber Salad with toasted sesame seeds and stir one more time. Enjoy with your favorite Korean cuisine!
How Should I Cut the Cucumbers?
You will want to slice the cucumbers to about ¼” thick. Many recipes call for keeping the cucumbers cut into rounds. If you don’t want to do that, you can also slice them into half circles. I have also seen them cut on a diagonal for a more unique shape.
Expert Tips
- The cucumbers will slice best when they are cold and crisp.
- I toasted the sesame seeds myself but you can also buy them already toasted or use a drop of toasted sesame oil.
- The sugar is optional. I felt like it brought out a great flavor in the dressing.
- If you can’t find Korean Red Chili Flakes, then Korean red chili powder will also work. You may be able to substitute a mixture of smoky paprika and cayenne pepper if you cannot find gochugaru.
- Like Yu Choy Sum, this dish is best served right away for the best crunch or you can let the cucumber soak up the dressing for about ten minutes.
Recipe FAQs
You can store this salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days. The sooner you eat it, the better as the cucumbers will quickly become soggy.
The gochugaru adds a nice spice to this recipe. You can find it in most Asian grocery stores. If you are not a fan of spice you can skip this ingredient or just use less of it.
This dish pairs well with any Korean BBQ beef or pork. You could also serve it with a noodle salad or with grilled fish. I love to eat it with Beef Bibimbap.
Did you enjoy this Korean Cucumber Salad Recipe? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
- Tarator (Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup) from Bulgaria
- Mangal Salad from Azerbaijan
- Dim Sum Chicken Feet from China
- What to serve with Spinach Salad
- Gobo Sushi
Korean Cucumber Salad
Equipment
- Knife
- Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 Korean cucumber, cut into rounds ¼” thick
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 stalks scallions, chopped
- 1 tsp Minced Garlic
- 1 ½ tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Rice Vinegar
- ½ tsp Sugar
- ½ – 1 tbsp Korean Red Chili Flakes, gochugaru
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add the sliced cucumbers into a large bowl and sprinkle with 1 tbsp salt.
- Let the cucumbers sit for about 30 minutes until the salt removes the water from the cucumbers and the cucumbers can be folded in half without breaking.
- Rinse the cucumbers to remove the excess salt. Squeeze the cucumbers in a paper towel or a clean dish towel to remove excess water.
- Add the 2 chopped scallions, 1 tsp garlic, 1 ½ tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, and ½ tsp sugar into the bowl. Mix to combine and then pour over your cucumbers. Sprinkle the cucumbers with ½ – 1 tbsp Korean Red Chili Flakes and mix again.
- Sprinkle the Korean Cucumber Salad with 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds and stir one more time. Enjoy!
Notes
- Korean Cucumber: Korean cucumbers are thin and long. They offer an excellent crunch and small seeds. They are also sweet and don’t have any bitterness. If you can’t find Korean cucumbers, just about any thin and long cucumber will work. Persian cucumbers and English cucumbers are usually easy to locate in America. Cucumbers with larger seeds will become soggy too quickly.
- Gochugaru: Korean Red Chili Flakes, or gochugaru, is a red chili flake or powder that’s popular in Korean cooking and can usually be found in an Asian grocery store. It has a spiciness and sweetness to it that makes for the best flavor. American cayenne pepper or chili powder are just not the same. You can buy it online here.
- Scallions: The scallions in this recipe balance out the sweetness of the cucumber. Some recipes also call for chopped onion. Any are fine, but if you feel the taste of chopped onion are too strong, try the scallions instead.
- Minced Garlic: Chop your garlic very fine so it can mix well in the sauce. You could also use minced garlic from a jar.
- Dressing: The soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil combine to make a savory dressing that is perfect with the crisp cool flavor of cucumber. If possible, search for Korean sesame oil.
- The cucumbers will slice best when they are cold and crisp.
- I toasted the sesame seeds myself but you can also buy them already toasted or use a drop of toasted sesame oil.
- The sugar is optional. I felt like it brought out a great flavor in the dressing.
- If you can’t find Korean Red Chili Flakes, then Korean red chili powder will also work. You may be able to substitute a mixture of smoky paprika and cayenne pepper if you cannot find gochugaru.
- Serve right away for the best crunch or you can let the cucumber soak up the dressing for about ten minutes.
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