Oi Muchim
Spicy Cucumber Salad
오이무침
Oi muchim means, more or less, "cucumber mixed with seasonings." It lands somewhere near kimchi — spicy, sweet, sharp with vinegar — but it skips fermentation entirely and comes together while your rice is still cooking. It is the banchan that shows up on almost every Korean table, and the one most worth learning first.
How to make it
The traditional version asks you to balance gochugaru, sugar, vinegar, and gochujang by eye. BALGAN ORIGINAL KOREAN HOT SAUCE already carries that balance — Korean red pepper, slow-fermented, sweet first and hot last — so the dressing collapses into one pour plus a splash of vinegar. What you keep is the part that actually matters: salting the cucumbers first, and drying them properly.
Salt the cucumbers
Toss the sliced cucumbers with the salt in a large bowl. Let them sit 15 minutes. Water will pool at the bottom — that is the whole point.
Dry them properly
Tip the cucumbers into a colander, drain, then pat them dry with a clean towel. Skip this and the dressing slides off instead of clinging.
Mix the dressing
In a small bowl, whisk the Korean hot sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and minced garlic until smooth.
Toss and finish
Pour the dressing over the cucumbers and toss until every slice is coated. Fold in the scallion, scatter the sesame seeds, and serve cold.
One thing that matters
Best within a few hours. The cucumbers keep giving up water, so the longer it sits the looser it gets — still good, just less crisp.
How to serve it
Serve it next to fried rice, grilled meat, or anything rich enough to want something sharp beside it.
Made with BALGAN ORIGINAL KOREAN HOT SAUCE — real Korean gochujang, slow-fermented and remade as a pourable Korean sauce. Launching on Kickstarter, November 2026.
See the sauce →