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Vegetables from Korea

Oiji (salt-brined whole cucumbers)오이지

Oiji is whole cucumbers packed in a jar under a stone and covered with salt brine, often boiled and poured on hot. Lactic bacteria sour them in a few days while the skin turns from green to yellow-green. The sour cucumbers are sliced into cold water or squeezed and dressed.

Fully documentedVegetables2.5 days – 6 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold practice with no fixed batch size. Brine strength is the one amount the studies fix; they tested 5–20 % salt.
Whole cucumbersStalks removed; summer cucumbers of the seventh and eighth months in the Yongin style[nfm-oiji]
Salt brine10 % brine, boiled and poured on hot, gave the best texture and flavour in a 1994 trial[park1994]
Water, or rice-washing water mixed with cold waterThe Yongin style uses rice-washing water[nfm-oiji]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.5 days – 6 days

Start
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What changes: Whole cucumbers are packed in a jar and held down with a stone

Step 1 of 5
Pack whole cucumbers in a jar and weight them with a stone
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: cucumbers packed tight.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Oiji is whole cucumbers packed in a jar under a stone and covered with salt brine, often boiled and poured on hot. Lactic bacteria sour them in a few days while the skin turns from green to yellow-green. The sour cucumbers are sliced into cold water or squeezed and dressed. Made in 5 steps over 2.5 days – 6 days. The longest step, ferment until sour, takes 2.5–6 days (Kim J.-G 1989) and runs at 25 °C (Choi H.-S 1989). Salt is 5–15 % (Kim J.-G 1989).

Key numbers
Main step2.5–6 daysMeasured[kim1989]Ferment until sour
Temperature25 °CReported[choi1989]Ferment until sour
Salt5–15 %Reported[kim1989][park1994]Pour on salt brine, boiled and poured on hot
AciditypH 3.4–5.1Measured[park2004]Rinse, slice and serve

What makes this one different

Unlike oi-sobagi, oiji has no stuffing. Whole cucumbers sour in salt brine alone, which is often boiled and poured on hot to keep them crisp. Today, squeezed and dressed oiji is often seen as a jangajji, not a kimchi.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Yongin oiji (용인오이지)Gyeonggi style made with rice-washing water and cold water; recorded in Jeungbo sallim gyeongje and Gyuhap chongseo.
  • Oiji jangajjiLeftover oiji kept as a year-round pickle.

Safety

More salt in the brine slows souring. Leftover oiji should not sit in brine that has grown a white film. It is washed and dried instead.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The farm manual Jeungbo sallim gyeongje, whose manuscript was completed in 1766, records seasoned cucumber kimchi close to oiji. Imwon gyeongje ji records salted oiji as made today. Buin piji gives the Yongin method of boiling the brine and pouring it back.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [kim1989] Kim J.-G., Choi H.-S., Kim S.-S. and Kim W.-J. 1989, Changes in physicochemical and sensory qualities of Korean pickled cucumbers during fermentation, Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology 21(6), 838–844 (abstract)paper
  2. [choi1989] Choi H.-S., Kim J.-G. and Kim W.-J. 1989, Effect of heat treatment on some qualities of Korean pickled cucumbers during fermentation, Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology 21(6), 845–850 (abstract)paper
  3. [park1994] 박미원, 박용곤 and 장명숙 (Park, Park and Jang) 1994, Changes of physicochemical and sensory characteristics of Korean pickled cucumber with different preparation methods, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition 23(4), 634–640 (abstract)paper
  4. [park2004] Park S.-H., Park W.-S. and Kim M.-R. 2004, Quality characteristics of commercial oiji, Korean cucumber pickle, Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology 36(3), 385–392 (abstract)paper
  5. [nfm-oiji] National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, Korean Food, Clothing and Housing (한국의식주생활사전), 오이지; KOGL type 2, facts only; read 2026-10book
  6. [ek-oiji] Seo H.-K., 오이지, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (한국민족문화대백과사전), Academy of Korean Studies; read 2026-10book
  7. [enwiki-jeungbo] English Wikipedia, Jeungbo sallim gyeongje (date of the manuscript, 1766), read 2026-10wiki