Hi! Unnie

Oi sobagi, also known as cucumber kimchi, is way simpler than it sounds. Today I’m walking you through exactly how to make it, start to finish. I actually make this pretty often in summer, and if you keep the tips I’m sharing today in mind, it really won’t be difficult at all.

📝 Ingredients

• 4–5 cucumbers
• 150g buchu (Korean garlic chives)
• 1/2 onion
• Carrot (optional, a small amount)
• Seasoning: 1 tbsp sugar, 4 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes), 1 tbsp minced garlic, a pinch of minced ginger (about a teaspoon, ginger powder works too), 4 tbsp aekjeot (Korean fish sauce — blue crab fish sauce is best, but anchovy fish sauce works too), 1 tbsp maesilaek (Korean green plum syrup), 1 tbsp saeujeot (salted fermented shrimp)
• For brining: 1 tbsp sea salt (or 2 tbsp regular salt if you don’t have sea salt)

✅ How to Make It

• Wash the cucumbers. Trim off the ends since they can be a little bitter, then cut each one into 3–4 pieces, depending on your preference.

• Score each piece with a cross-shaped cut, but leave about 1cm uncut at the end. This keeps the cucumber from splitting all the way through once you stuff it.

• Bring water and 1 tbsp of sea salt to a rolling boil in a pot. Once it’s boiling, turn off the heat and soak the cucumbers in the hot water for 10 minutes. I know it seems like the hot water would cook the cucumbers, but it’s actually the opposite — brining them in boiled salt water is exactly what keeps them from going soft, so they stay crunchy all the way through.

• Now it’s time to make the filling. Thinly slice half an onion. Here’s a tip: if you cut the onion in half crosswise before slicing, you’ll get pieces about 2–3cm long, which makes it much easier to stuff neatly into the cucumber later. Cut the buchu into 2–3cm lengths too. If the pieces are too close in size to the cucumber itself, they won’t fit well or the cucumber might tear when you stuff it, so stick to this length. If you’re using carrot, julienne it to the same length — totally optional either way.

• Mix together the sugar, gochugaru, minced garlic, ginger, fish sauce, maesilaek, and saeujeot to make the seasoning. Let it sit at room temperature for 5–10 minutes if you can.

• Add the sliced onion, buchu, and carrot to the seasoning and toss to coat. Here’s the key point: mix gently, with a light touch — squeezing or mixing too roughly is what makes the buchu turn bitter/grassy tasting. Think of it as gently coating everything rather than mixing hard.

• Drain the brined cucumbers well in a strainer.

• Stuff the seasoned filling into the cross-cut openings of the drained cucumbers. Again, go easy here — too much pressure can tear the cucumber, make it mushy, or bring out that grassy taste in the buchu. Once stuffed, give each cucumber a gentle squeeze so the seasoning soaks in all the way through.

Let the stuffed cucumbers chill in the fridge for about a day, and you’ll have crisp, refreshing oi sobagi ready to eat.

💬 A Note From Unnie

If this sounds like a lot of steps, don’t let it intimidate you — it’s much simpler than it looks. Just remember two things: keep a light touch when mixing the filling, and don’t cut the ingredients too big. Get those two right, and you’ll end up with clean, delicious oi sobagi every time. I’ll be back soon with more tasty recipes!