Oi Muchim (Korean Cucumber Salad)

I made kimchi fries for dinner tonight. (They were delicious.) But I wanted to do an additional vegetable side dish. Something that would be nice and light since the fries, bulgogi, and cheese involved in the rest of the meal aren't exactly the most health-conscious options. So, light, but still tasty. And I wanted it to be easy to throw together since I knew I wouldn't have the energy for anything complicated. And this salad fit the bill perfectly!

I enjoy the upfront presence of chilies and sesame in the dressing. And I appreciate that it's not too oily. The dressing is mostly gochugaru and vinegar. And the oil that is there is sesame oil, so it adds more delicious sesame flavour. It's very nice.

Oi Muchim

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 small onion¹, quartered and sliced
• 1 cucumber
• 1 handfull garlic chives
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. gochugaru
• 1 Tbsp. sugar²
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground

Directions

1. Place onion in a bowl of cold water and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
2. Cut cucumber into 5mm-thick slices and place in a large bowl.
3. Cut garlic chives into long pieces (4-5cm long) and add to bowl with cucumber.
4. In a small bowl, combine gochugaru, sugar, sesame seeds, garlic, vinegar, sesame oil, and salt and mix well.
5. Drain onion and add it to the bowl with the cucumber.
6. Pour the dressing over the cucumber mixture and toss to combine.

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¹ The original recipe called for only 1/4 of an onion, so I put half of a very small onion in. This was fine. But, having tasted the salad now, I think it would been better with even more onions. ^Back
2 I've been trying to cut calories, so I swapped out the sugar for monk fruit sweetener in my dressing.