Yesterday, my husband and I went to a farmer’s market. They always have very fresh fruits and vegetables. I love to go there. Anyway, I found these fresh cucumbers for pickling, and decided to make Korean cucumber kimchi. The price for one cucumber was 25 cents. When I told them I wanted 20 cucumbers, they only charged me $2 for all of them. @.@ Big~~~ discount! In this case, we say “ASSA!” in Korean. hehe … I already got a request for this dish from some people, so I hope people will like this recipe.
Yield: 2 Dozen Servings
Short Korean Lesson
- JaDu (자두) = Plum
- BokSungA (복숭아) = Peach
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 24 Cucumbers for Pickling (About 3 Inches in length)
- 1 Cup Coarse Sea Salt
- 10 Cups Water
- 2 Cups Garlic Chives
- 1 Cup Green Onions
Sauce Ingredients
- 1 Cup Red Pepper Powder
- 6 Tbsp Fish Sauce (or a little Salt)
- 6 Tbsp Water
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
- 2 tsp Minced Ginger
Directions
Clean the cucumbers. Normally, we use special cucumbers for cucumber kimchi called “summer cucumbers.” They have a light color and they are thin. I could not find them around here, but these pickling cucumbers worked good.
We are going to stuff the cucumbers. Cut off both ends of the cucumber. Then cut an x in the cucumbers, lengthwise, all the way down to about half an inch from the bottom.
Boil 10 cups of water with 1 cup of coarse sea salt.
Pour the boiling salt water on the cucumbers. Set it aside for about 50 minutes. This step is important because helps the cucumbers stay crunchy after the kimchi has been made.
After 50 minutes, rinse the cucumbers in cold water once. Drain the water.
Next, we will make the filling. Chop 2 cups of garlic chives into ¼-inch pieces. If your garlic chives and green onions are thin and soft, you can cut them longer than that.
Chop 1 cup of green onions into ¼-inch pieces. For better color, you can add some chopped carrots also.
In a bowl, add 1 cup of red pepper powder, 6 Tbsp of fish sauce (or some salt if you are a vegetarian), 6 Tbsp of water, 2 Tbsp of sugar, 2 Tbsp of minced garlic, and 2 tsp of minced ginger. Mix all of the ingredients together.
Add the garlic chives and green onions to the sauce.
Mix well.
To fill the cucumbers with the sauce, open the cucumber gently.
Put some of the sauce mixture in it.
Rub the surface of the cucumber with the sauce.
Put your cucumber kimchi in a container. I prefer to use glass containers to keep my kimchi. Set them outside (room temperature) overnight, and then put them in the refrigerator.
i LOVE oi sobagi!
nice presentation on the plate 🙂 i’m telling you, you should be a food stylist. 🙂
have a beautiful & blessed day. 🙂
oh and please pray for us over here in hawaii – there’s a huge hurricane coming our way. 🙁
*love you!*
Hi, farleen
Oh.. food stylist @,@ I want to study about it actually.. hehe.. thanks !!!
My husband told me last night, there will be hurricane over there today or tomorrow.. I worry you.. We will pray for you. Hope to hear from you soon.
Love you, my friend ~~~ 🙂
Hi Aeri!
This is one of my favorites!! I absolutely love this dish. I have made it a few times. Although I have never tried salting the cucumbers with your (hot) method. Does it really make it more crunchy? I should try that. Yummy!!!
Hi, MrsDarth
Oh.. you love this..hehe
Yes.. you can see.. after you make the kimchi.. later.. the cucumber has still good texture with that way. thanks !!! I’m hungry all the time now @,@ hehe..
hello Aeri! I have been a silent reader for awhile now. Today when i showed this recipe to my mom, she immediately wanted to make it! So, she sent me to the store to grab the ingredients. It was so simple to make and looks delicious! Thank you for the recipe! I cant wait to eat it!!! =)
Hi, LinduhxDee
Nice to meet you !!!
haha.. so your mom made this kimchi for you. cool ~~~ I hope you like this recipe. thanks !!!
yehey! thanks for the recipe Aeri… looks great as usual… the video and the photography is very good… keep up the good work… ill be making this one tomorrow…. can’t wait to try it…
Hi, jhny69
Thanks for your comment !!
I hope your cucumber kimchi turned out great. thanks !!! 🙂
that’s look so so yummy^^
thanks for the recipe..
Hi, Tofee
hehe.. thank you very much for your comment 🙂 Have a great week !!!
hi! i like your version of this dish. tried others but didn’t like it. so, i’ll make this with your instructions^. btw, did you mean japanese cucumbers? those that u used korea? pls tell me. would like to use the right ones. we have many types of them over here.
Hi, layping
cucumber kimchi is not may favorite dish even I love cucumber… hehe anyway..I hope you will like my recipe. You might be right… Japanese cucumbers.. they are thin..and the skin color is very light ?? if they are..that’s what I’m talking about..
My 할머니 makes the best 오이 소박이!
= w = 0<#
My favorites~
+I really appreciate what you are doing! It exposes Korean culture/food, and gives people access to delicious recipes!
감사합니다~!!
Hi, Hwa-Jin (화진..right? )
You are a Korean right ? ^^ Very happy to meet you !!! Yep, it’s cool to meet people from the world who are interested in Korean food. 🙂 Thanks !!
Yep. 🙂 I’m Korean, and you’ve spelt it right!
I’m just so used to spelling my name in English, that I forgot to spell it in Korean…. xD
Hi, 화진 ^^
Hey… you can’t forget the Korean spelling for your Korean name. =P hehe.. joke~~ I’m happy to meet an another cute Korean. hehe.. have a great week ~~~
This is so yummy!!!!!!!! I want!!!!!
HI, chuiyew
hehe… take it !!!!!
Have a great week my sis~~~ 🙂
Aeri,
I tried Oi Sobagi today. Actually, I just finished making it . Also, I made Patbingsoo.
I really love your website. I think you are very talented in cooking Korean food. I totally love your simple and neat directions of making Korean food. My husband and my 2.5 year-old son loves what I made following your recipe. I am sure my 7 months daughter will love them too in the future.
Thank you and God bless you!!
Hi, megan
Thanks for trying my recipes. 🙂
wow.. your 2.5 old son loves Korean food?? cool~~~ I hope my son will love Korean food too in the future…hehe You are related to Korea in any ways ??? I just wondered…. God bless you and your family,,, 🙂
Good morning, I tried the Cucumbers as well as the DakDoRiTang and it turned out delicious. The Oi SoBaGi was too salty for my taste, do you think it’s okay to use less salt in the water or would that mess up the recipe? Thanks again for this website, I love it!
hi Janina,
oh.. thanks for trying my recipes.. You can always adjust the seasoning especially salt and sugar depending on your taste.. so yes.. you can reduce the amount of the salt if it was too salty for you. thanks 🙂
Hi Aeri! Thanks again so much for sharing! I’m going to try this! It’s one of my favorites and my husband loves cucumber kimchee too!
hi joy,
hehe.. Enjoy your cucumber kimchi.. I hope you and your husband like it. thanks 🙂
I love your website. I was adopted from Korea when I was 8 months old, so I never learned how to make Korean food. I am married to a Korean man so I really had to learn. So far my husband has loved everything that I have made from your website. He has said a couple of times that it’s better than his moms, which is a great compliment since she is a great cook. Keep up the great work. God Bless
K. Kim
hi K. Kim,
Your comment is very special to me. I’m so happy to know you. It’s great you married Korean guy and can cook Korean food for him. I’m sure you are a very sweet wife..hehe Hope to see you more often. God bless you too.
Thank you so much for this website! I just stumbled upon it. I am not Korean but lived there for 8 years and have tried to look for a site with all these yummy foods finally!
Hi Cindy,
Wow.. 8 years is a long time~~~ I guess you tried many delicious Korean food over there..hehe hope you made lots lots of good memories in Korea. Thanks
I’ve just finished it!Thank you for your recipe!But I respected the proportions and it was very salty how come???
hi Pauline,
oh.. so you are saying.. you did exactly same thing what I did..and the cucumber kimchi came out too salty ?? Usually kimchi is salty..but it shouldn’t be too salty.. So I don’t know what to say..if you are willing to try this again later.. maybe cut the mount of salt.. some people told me they liked this recipe.. anyway..sorry about the result.
Hi Aeri, can I slide the cucumber in state cut an X. would is taste the same. Cause i never do kimchi b4 and i only ate at restaurant and they slide their cucumber. Thank you
hi Tracy,
The thing they serve in a Korean restaurant is a side-dish not a kimchi.. if you slice and soak them in salt water..since it’s smaller pieces..it will be too salty at the end.. ^^:; if you can I recommend you to cut it an X as I did.. hehe thanks ;D
Hello Aeris.
I wanted to thank you for sharing your recipes with the public. I got a chance to make a few of the yummy recipes.
I actually had a question about the kimchi cucumbers. I could not find a place to get garlic chives. Is it possible to make this recipe without garlic chives, or possibly a substitute ingredient to make this happen?
hi 4thgen,
oh.. if you don’t have garlic chives.. then increase the amount of green onion instead.. you can add some carrot to have enough volume of filling too. Good luck.. thanks
can I use kochujung instead of the kochucaro? not sure if i spelled that correctly.
hi bridget,
oops.. sorry but you don’t use kochujang for kimchi. You need kochugaru.. ^^ thanks
ok, went and got some! now to give this a whirl 🙂
hi bridget,
hehe great.. i hope you like this. Good luck. 😀
I´m so exited..I just made this and now im waiting for the result…In Sweden we got a different kind of Cumber but i think its alright. We also have a cucumber name Västerås gurka..Next time i use that one..THX…
hi Jimmy alias Tony,
I wonder how it turned out.. hehe this can be a little too salty… I hope you liked the result.. thanks 😀
Hi Aeri,
I would like to try this recipe but have some questions.
Can you please help?
1) about leaving the cucumbers out overnight. It’s pretty hot here during summer, is it still okay to leave the cucumbers out overnight without refrigeration?
2) Also, do the cucumbers need to be covered in the container for leaving out overnight, or should it be without a lid?
3) Lastly, once refrigerated, how long will the cucumbers last. I am sure they will be tasty and finished quickly, but can they last like a week or two?
I look forward to trying this recipe, as I have tried others from your website with great success.
Thanks a lot.
hi Wakkun,
1) if it’s too hot over there.. leave it out for one or 2 hours….and then put it in the refrigerator..
2) yes.. cover the container.. not too tight..loose the lid a little bit…
3) yep.. you can eat it a week or two.. but as you said.. it will be done eating quickly..hehe thanks 😀
Thank you for posting this recipe!
I do have a question though.. I noticed that after I’ve stuffed them and put them in a container, the cucumbers have let out a lot of liquid. Is this normal? What should I do with the liquid? Leave it?
hi Adrienne,
yes it’s normal to get liquid while it’s fermenting.. but it shouldn’t be too much though.. when you drain the water after you soak the cucumber in salt water… you should drain the water enough..but as I said.. some of the liquid is normal.. so don’t worry ^^ thanks
the liquid makes the best sauce to eat over rice or meat or other vegetables!
hi Bo,
haha.. you are right.. ^^ yum~~~
side dish r alway YUMMY … but i wondering the sea salt water after boiling do u pure them in rite away or wait till them cool down??? 😛
hi x13abiez,
Pour the salt water when it’s hot not cool.. ^^
Oh my goodness…. I’ve made this so many times! My husband keeps asking me to make more. So, that’s what I will be doing Saturday! 😆
hi Bo,
Now bo unni is an expert for cucumber kimchi.. jjang ^^ thanks
Hi Aeri! I made a batch of cucumber kimchi today according to your directions, and I cannot wait to taste it!
Thank you so much!
– Jie 馬傑 (In Korean, I’m called 마걸) ^__^
hi Ma Jie,
I hope you like your cucumber kimchi.
Oh.. you are living in Korea.. I envy you.. hehe thanks 😛
Hi Aeri. When we have to keep the cucumbers at the room temperature (overnight), do we have to cover them?
hi Benjamin,
yes.. you don’t have to close it tight..but.. cover them.. ^^
Hi Aeri. Wow! It looks delicious. I have a question: Do we have to cover the container when at the end?
P.S.: I love watching your videos 😛
hi Benjamin,
Yes, cover the lid..but not too tight.. a little lose. but when you put it in the refrigerator.. close the lid tight so your refrigerator will not be full of kimchi smell. 😉 hehe.. thanks
Hi thanks for the recipe! I’m not korean, my husband is. He sometimes misses his Korean food, so your website really come in handy! I just made a batch now 😉 hubby doesn’t know, I can’t wait to surprise him heh heh 😉 one question though, once leave it outside overnight, how many more days do I need to wait until it’s ready to eat? Or can I eat it now? Thanks!
hi November,
You can eat now and can wait for a little longer.. few days before eat. Thanks. ^^ I hope your korean husband loves your Korean cooking..
Hi Aeri,
Thanks! It was great! 😛 Hubby was shocked ha ha 😀 We enjoyed it so much, they were gone in 3 days! Thanks so much for the recipe! I love your website 🙂
Hi Aerie – I made this over the weekend (quite easy to do) and I used red pepper powder I bought at a Korean Market. They have great flavor, but there is almost a “fishy” taste…it’s very faint. Is that normal? Is it from the fish sauce or possibly the powder I bought? Thanks for all of these great recipes!
hi Miya,
Since I didn’t try your red pepper powder, I can’t tell well…but I guess it’s your fish sauce .. that gives fishy taste in your kimchi. I don’t think that hot pepper powder has fishy taste. Sorry for poor answer.
Hi Aerie,
May I know how long can we keep this MuChim in the fridge if we are not able to finish it with 2/3 days? Thks!
hi Evelyn,
as you know, cucumber changes the texture and flavor if you keep sometime after you cook… but this kimchi recipes is fermented dish, so you can keep for weeks.. ^^ thanks
Hi Aeri 🙂 I love love your site!
I made this yesterday, and this morning there is a lot of water in the container..Is this OK? Will it still taste fine? Or is this supposed to happen? haha I’ve never made this before so maybe it’s normal.. Thank you and God Bless you 🙂
hi Jessi,
Yes, usually kimchi especially cucumber kimchi gets water while it’s fermenting..that’s kimchi broth.. it’s okay..but to avoid to get too much water, you drain the water as much as you can .. after you soak the cucumber in salt water.. anyway.. i think your kimchi is okay. ^^ God bless you.
Hi Aeri,
I am a vegetarian, and I was wondering about how much salt should I add in substitution for the fish sauce? I don’t want it to turn out too salty! I also have made kimchi without the fish sauce but haven’t quite perfected it yet. So an approximate substitution would be great! I love your website! I have used so many of the recipes! Thanks!
hi Krystal,
Fish sauce has extra flavoring.. so if you skip and use salt.. my suggestion can be this. If you have dried shitke mushroom and kelp.. boiled them and add some salt depending on your taste.. don’t make it too salty but just good for your taste. use that broth instead of fish sauce. If you don’t want that.. just use salt.. and the amount will be again.. as much as you want for the saltness.. the cucumber is already salty.. so after you make the kimchi paste dip small piece of cucumber in that paste and try it.. and add salt from that point.. thanks
hi aeri
안녕하세요 . 저는 현재 미국 유학생이고.
궁금한것을 영어로 잘표현이 안될거 같아서 이렇게 올립니다.
소금을 절여놓은 이유는 물이 덜 생기고 오래먹기 위해서인가요?오이가 24로나와있는데 전 저 혼자 먹을거라서 일주일 먹을치만 있으면 되어서. 오이를 줄이면 소스 양도 줄여야 하나요?
그리고 coarse sea salt 이거 미국 마트에서도 파나요? 아님 그냥 소금물로 해도 되나요?
오늘 처음 왔습니다 ^^ 액젓은 구할수가 없기때문에. 한국 마트를 가지 않은이상은 그냥 소금으로 해야 할듯.
hi jin park,
뜨거운 소금 물에 오이를 절이면 오이가 아삭한 질감을 잘 유지할수 있기 때문이구요..물론 소금은 간으로 다른 김치들을 소금에 절이는것과 같은 이유로 하는것이구요. 레서피를 원하시는 양만큼 절반.. 또는 1/4 .. 1/3 이렇게 쪼개시면 됩니다. 소스 양을 오이양을 기준으로 나누신다고 보면 되요. ^^ coarse sea salt는 우리나라 굵은 소금인대요. 미국 마트에서 파는 것은 한국 굵은 소금보다 결정체가 더 작답니다. 그냥 소금으로 하셔도 돼는데.. 물에 소금을 타가면서.. 소금물이 입맛에 조금 짜다 싶을정도로 넣으심 됩니다. (못먹을 정도로 짜게는 말구요. ) 뙤 뵈요.. 공부 열심히 하세요..화이팅 !!!
Hello Aeris.
My cucumber turned out really salty. Is there a way to fix that?
hi kim,
Sok the salted cucumber in cold water …. so you will lose some saltiness from the cucumber.. thanks
Hi Aeri, I really love all your recipes. Especially the daikon radish, I make it almost every week. For this particular recipe, is it possible for me to slice up the cucumber and prepare it the same way or is there a different sauce that I will use for the slice cucumber?
hi Pauline,
Sorry..I have several radish recipes..so I can’t guess which one you are asking to use the sauce for sliced cucumbers.
Hi Aeri, may I ask why do we need to use cold water to rinse the cucumbers? Is there a special reason why? Thank you. Nat
hi Natalie,
It’s for good texture of the cucumber kimchi.. as I poured hot water first and rinse them in cold water later..it’s just part of the process.. thanks
Thank you for this recipe and this wonderful blog !
I have made this year after year with recipe after recipe but none were quite right. My search is finally over. This is it.. Thank you!! Awesome!!!
my wife loves kimchi and i am going to try this recipe for the first time. the only question i have is, when i set it in the glass dish do i cover it with a lid or just let it sit outside uncovered?
I love oi sobagi. 🙂 A couple of questions, if you don’t mind. First, I will be making these without going to the Korean store, so I need to substitute for buchu. Could I just use more green onions? Or perhaps American chives? And second, when I make baechu kimchi I usually cut down on the hot pepper powder some so that my children can enjoy it more. How spicy is this recipe compared to your baechu kimchi, so I can know how to adjust it? Thank you!
hi harmony,
Yes, use more green onions.. they are similar in how spicy it is.. so you can adjust it to your taste. Thanks
Hi Aeri,
Is it okay to just use salt instead of sea salt?
Thank You 🙂
hi Zarina,
Yes, you can..but that case you have to adjust the salt amount for the recipe, since sea salt and normal salt have different volume and saltiness.
Hi Aeri,
I am planning to try this but I am wondering about a couple things. Do you literally put this outside or do you mean on the counter? Also, I have made several fermented items but all ferment longer than one day. Is one day long enough? Also, can you just cut the cucumbers into Spears?
Thank you for your help.
hi Kathy,
I meant in your kitchen.. yes on the counter.. As you eat cucumber raw.. this kimchi you can enjoy both ways.. eat fresh before it gets fermented or after fermented.. for one day, it will be still like a little salad… but it tastes good.. You can cut the way you want.. but then.. when you eat kimchi later, you will not get the filling evenly with your kimchi… but if you want.. you can.. hope you like this recipe.. please let me know how it turned out later..