My girlfriends had put together a recipe scrapbook for me, and my mom sent in this Oi Muchim Recipe (Korean Cucumber Side Dish) as her contribution. This was probably one of the first recipes I learned as a newlywed and is still one of my go-tos. I seriously can just eat this with rice most days.
I remember during the first few months of marriage, I felt this overwhelming amount of pressure to be a cookie cutter wife. It’s totally not my style, but observing other successfully married couples, a part of me wanted to follow in their footsteps. It took me a while to realize that just because I didn’t know how to cook, clean, or do any of the traditional house wife duties, it didn’t make me the world’s worst wife (Maybe just the bottom 5%. ;P ). Luckily, we found our own dynamic that works for us. I usually like to be adventurous and try out new recipes, while Jacob likes to do the day to day cooking.
If you’re like me and find cooking to be daunting, this is a great, simple cucumber dish to ease you in. Oh, you should probably like Korean food too! And if you haven’t tried korean food yet, what’s stopping you? :)
Oi Muchim // A Korean Cucumber Side Dish
Ingredients:
- 1 Cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon korean red pepper flakes
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons powdered honey / sugar
- 2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- salt, to taste
- 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 Tablespoon vinegar (optional)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
Directions:
- Mix all the ingredients except cucumber to make the seasoning.
- Thinly slice cucumbers. (I used to just use my knife, but now that I have a mandoline, it makes slicing so much easier, and I get perfect slices everytime.)
- Mix the cucumbers into the seasoning.
Chef’s notes:
- The vinegar adds a slightly sour / pickled taste to the seasoned cucumbers.
- Fish sauce adds extra flavor, but isn’t necessary.
- You can add salt to the cucumber slices, draw out and remove the water first, if you want the cucumbers to stay crunchier.
What’s the first recipe you learned to make?
What’s the first recipe you learned as a newlywed?
