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).
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 :)~
For best results, make and consume this side dish on the same day. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for about 1-2 days.