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Oiji
오이지: whole cucumbers fermented under boiling salt brine until golden and wrinkled, then sliced and dressed for summer rice
Oiji is the Korean way of keeping early-summer cucumbers into the dog days. In June, when short, thin-skinned pickling cucumbers flood markets from Seoul to the southern provinces, they are packed into a crock and covered with boiling salt brine, which keeps them crisp. A week later they are olive-gold, wrinkled and sour-salty. Nobody eats them straight: they are sliced, soaked and squeezed, then dressed as oiji muchim with chilli flakes, garlic and sesame, or floated in cold water with vinegar and spring onion as oiji naengguk, a cooling summer soup. Over rice on a hot afternoon, the crunch is everything. The brine is about 10% salt (200 g per 2 litres of water), strong enough to keep them all summer. The common mistake is leaving any cucumber above the brine; it softens and moulds, so weigh them down well. It is ready when the cucumbers are evenly yellow-green, wrinkled and firm, and the brine smells cleanly sour. Normal: cloudy brine and bubbles; bad: fuzzy coloured mould, mushy or slimy cucumbers, a rotten smell. Chef's tip: squeeze the soaked slices in a cotton cloth as hard as you can before dressing; the drier they are, the better they crunch.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the oiji
- 10 pickling cucumbersabout 1.2 kg; short, thin-skinned Korean or kirby cucumbers
- 8 ¼ cups water
- 7 oz coarse sea saltmakes a 10% brine
For oiji muchim (2 cucumbers)
- 1 clove garlicfinely chopped
- 1 spring onionfinely chopped
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- ½ tsp sugar (optional)
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Clean the jar or container and lid: wash in hot soapy water, rinse, then dry in a 250°F oven for 10 minutes (or pour boiling water over and in it and air-dry upside down). Let it cool; it must be completely dry. Use a 3–4 litre heatproof glass jar, crock or food-grade container.
Step 2: Rub the 10 pickling cucumbers under running water to remove the prickles, leave them whole and dry them. Pack tightly into the container, upright or in layers.
10 minStep 3: Bring the 8 ¼ cups water and 7 oz coarse sea salt to a rolling boil in a large pan, stirring until the salt dissolves.
5 minStep 4: Pour the boiling brine straight over the cucumbers; the skins turn bright green at once. Put a plate on top and weigh it with a jar of water or a stone so every cucumber is submerged.
2 minStep 5: Cover and leave at room temperature (about 20–77°F) for 3 days. Pour the brine back into the pan, bring it to a boil again, cool it to lukewarm and pour it back over the cucumbers. Weigh them down again.
5 minStep 6: Leave 4–7 more days at room temperature, until the cucumbers are evenly olive-yellow, wrinkled and firm and the brine smells cleanly sour. Throw them away if you see fuzzy coloured mould, they turn mushy or slimy, or smell rotten.
Step 7: Move the cucumbers and brine to the fridge. Keeps 2–3 months, always submerged; take them out with clean tongs.
Step 8: For oiji muchim: slice 2 cucumbers into thin rounds and soak in cold water for 20 minutes, until only pleasantly salty. Squeeze very hard in a cloth until dry and crunchy.
20 minStep 9: Toss the slices with 1 tsp Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru), 1 clove garlic, 1 spring onion, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds and ½ tsp sugar if using, until evenly red. Eat within 3 days, kept in the fridge.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 30 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 4 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does oiji take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of pickling cucumbers?
- Courgette, same weight (in salads, use young ones).
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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