Spicy Cucumber Banchan

March 31, 2022

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Chef Chris Cho making Spicy Cucumber Banchan — This is how you make Spicy Cucumber Banchan!

Spicy Cucumber Banchan is an easy and healthy side dish you can make any time. It has the same flavors and healthy benefits of kimchi, minus the waiting time for fermentation and funk~

Do you know the difference between regular kimchi and cucumber kimchi? In regular kimchi, the longer it ferments, the better it tastes in soups and stews. Meanwhile, cucumber kimchi doesn’t need to be fermented. It tastes best when it’s made fresh and eaten right away. Actually, the longer it ferments, the sour it gets. Sometimes a bit too sour that you can barely eat it.

As the first recipe in my newly launched blog, I’d love to share a recipe that embodies my brand: Broke Boyz, easy, and super tasty! Today, I’m going to share what we call “oi muchim” or seasoned cucumbers. It takes three easy steps: Prepare the cucumber, make the sauce, and mix!

What is the best type of cucumber?

The best type of cucumber to use is called “Joseon Oi“. They are long, prickly, and are usually light green to dark green in color variations and I commonly find them at Hmart. However, Kirby cucumbers are also a good substitute since they have few seeds just like Korean cucumbers.

How to prepare the cucumber?

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Water drawn out after salting the cucumber

In making Korean vegetable side dishes, we normally use sea salt to brine the vegetables. What the process does is it brings out the water content, makes them a little bit pliable, but at the same time retain its crispiness. If you don’t have sea salt, kosher salt is a good substitute, but do not use iodized salt as it is saltier than the former two.

Salt the cucumbers for 5-10 minutes, and once water is drawn, drain. This is a crucial step so it won’t water down the sauce later. Taste it and if you find it too salty, run it in a cup of water to remove the excess salt, then drain. Otherwise, there’s no need to wash it.

Cucumber Sauce

For the sauce, we’ll be using a few ingredients that will resemble the taste of kimchi. It’s spicy, savory, and sour all at the same time. You may need to have a trip down to your nearest Hmart to grab the items, but I promise you this is worth it.

Gochugaru – This is a Korean type of chili flakes. It’s mildly spicy, smoky, and mildly sweet. This is quite different from the common chili flakes in grocery stores so I highly recommend you get this as you make the recipe. I am not really brand-specific, but get one that’s labeled “made in Korea” so you know it’s legit.
Sugar – You can actually use any type of sugar. Personally, I chopped this up when I was on a diet, so I used erythritol in making it. If you do use any other type of sweetener, add the right equivalent at your own discretion.
Fish Sauce or Soy Sauce – This is where the umami will come from. You can use either of the two, whichever is available to you.
Sesame Oil and Sesame Seeds – For a nutty and earthy finish to the side dish. This will perfectly complement the pepper powder and fish sauce.
Vinegar – For some acidity. I prefer using apple vinegar in making this, but any sweet vinegar can also be used.
Garlic & Onion – These are the aromatics that will add fresh flavors to the dish. If the onion is too strong for your taste, you can soak it in cold water for a couple of minutes to tone down the taste.

Combine the sauce ingredients and mix them with the cucumbers. Make sure to get your gloves on and mix them by hand. In doing this, you’ll be able to get the sauce in every piece!

To take the banchan up a notch, you can add 1/2 tablespoon of gochujang or Korean red pepper paste. This will add more spice and savor to the side dish. The taste will be different with and without it, so put only according to your own discretion.

How do you serve Spicy Cucumber Banchan?

This side dish is a perfect pair to any protein like Chicken Teriyaki, Soy Garlic Chicken BBQ, Spicy Chicken BBQ, LA Galbi, or Steamed Fish. When I was on a diet and had to eat chicken breast all day long, this was the spicy, healthy, and crunchy twist I needed to get through the day! Kakaka~

For any leftovers, store them in the fridge for no longer than 3 days. Do note that the cucumber may still water down as it sits, so that may cause a difference in the texture of the side dish.

Other Korean side dishes you might like:

Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!

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5 from 8 votes