636 recipes. Page 26 of 27
Everyday Korean side dish recipes
Raw cabbage and carrot are packed in unblanched, and the hot sweet-sour brine poured over them is what keeps the crunch a day later. Whole peppercorns give the brine a mild aromatic bite. Served cold beside burgers or tonkatsu, it cuts through fried food the way a sharp slaw does.
Unlike soy-brined crab that sits for days, this version coats quartered raw crab in a thick chili paste and is ready after half a day in the fridge. Because the paste does not cook anything, the crab must be sold for raw consumption and stay at 4°C or below from cleaning through marinating.
No doenjang goes into this siraegi (dried radish greens). They are tossed with soup soy sauce and garlic, fried in perilla oil and finished with ground perilla seed loosened in water, which tastes lighter and nuttier than a doenjang-braised siraegi.
Thin, even slices of lotus root end up with a thin brown soy glaze outside and a crisp, lacy bite inside. Cutting every slice to the same 0.5 cm is what lets them all cook to the same point in the same time. A quick blanch and a rinse in cold water before braising take off the surface starch and astringency, and skipping it leaves that rough edge under the glaze. A tablespoon of vinegar added with the rice syrup near the end keeps the sweetness light despite all that shine. Cooled completely and refrigerated, the slices keep drawing in seasoning and taste more even the next day.
Thick wedges cut along the grain are what let these onions stay crisp in soy brine for days; thin slices go limp fast. Sliced cheongyang chilies, a hot Korean green pepper, run some heat under the sweet-salty soy. The seasoning evens out after about three days in the fridge.
Young radish greens are so watery and tender that 10 to 15 seconds in boiling water wilts them. The stems keep their crunch while the leaves go soft and take up the soup soy sauce dressing. Thick-stemmed bunches get another 30 seconds.
Thin-sliced bulgogi beef sits in a gochujang marinade for about ten minutes, then hits a hot pan with onion. By the end there is almost no liquid left, just a glossy coat of sauce clinging to every slice.
Slices cut a full 1cm thick and cooked covered over low heat give this lotus root dish a chunkier bite than thin soy-glazed versions, with a core that stays crunchy. A soak in vinegared water right after slicing keeps the cut faces from browning. Jocheong, a Korean grain syrup, sweetens the soy instead of sugar and leaves a mellow malty note along with the gloss.
Thin stems and tender leaves make young radish easy to bruise, and rough handling leaves a grassy, raw smell. Every stage from rinsing to mixing needs a light hand. As the paste settles in, the greens release liquid that becomes a tangy, chili-flecked brine, and pressing the greens down into it keeps the fermentation even. After roughly half a day at room temperature, small bubbles and a sour smell signal it is time for the fridge. In summer, when fermentation runs fast, it can be refrigerated straight away. Chilled, it is piled onto bibim-guksu or naengmyeon through the summer.
Too fragile to slice, silken tofu goes onto a flat plate as a whole block with the dressing poured over the top. Out of the package, it rests briefly on a paper towel to shed surface water before moving to the plate. The dressing is soy sauce with chili flakes, garlic, green onion, and sesame oil, and the tofu is served either cold or warmed for a minute in the microwave.
Ketchup sets a sweet base and half a spoon of gochujang adds only a mild heat, giving these cocktail sausages a sticky glaze that settles into shallow scores and sits well in a lunchbox. Once the ketchup and syrup start to thicken they stick fast to the pan, so nothing stays still after the sauce is poured in.
Lotus root keeps a crisp, almost snappy bite even after braising, which sets it apart from soft soy-braised potatoes or burdock. Once the holes in each round have soaked up the soy sauce and the slices turn a translucent brown, a spoonful of syrup over high heat gives them a quick, glossy finish.
The broth stays clear because garlic and ginger are wrapped in cheesecloth and squeezed in cold water for their aroma alone, leaving no solids floating around. Young radish greens (yeolmu) are salted just until they slump slightly, so the stems keep some snap, and thin slices of radish let the broth pick up flavor quickly. Ginger is the one ingredient to hold back on: too much, or left steeping too long, turns the broth bitter. Filtered cold water gives the cleanest taste, since nothing is boiled.
Young rapeseed greens, a spring vegetable in Korea, keep a crisp stalk and a faint sweetness after blanching. They're dressed with doenjang (Korean soybean paste), worked in over a few rounds once the squeezed greens have been pulled apart.
Square fish cake sheets are blanched for 20 seconds before frying to shed surface oil, which lets the gochujang glaze cling more cleanly. No water is added; the onion goes in first, and the moisture it gives off loosens the sauce on the pan floor.
Lotus root braised in soy sauce gets a handful of raw peanuts in the same pot, so the crisp slices come with soft, mealy peanuts in between. It is kept in the fridge and eaten cold, and the jocheong (Korean rice syrup) added at the end keeps it glossy even then.
A splash of vinegar in the blanching water keeps lotus root slices pale and clean, and a quick dunk in cold water right after locks that color in. After thin peeling, each piece is rinsed right through the holes, where soil tends to hide. The soy brine gets bay leaf and black peppercorns and only a short simmer, because reducing it makes the pickle too salty. Even slices cook and season evenly, and shaking off the water keeps the brine from going thin. Poured on hot, the brine runs into every hole, and after two to three days in the fridge the centers are seasoned while the slices still have a crisp, fibrous chew.
Bulgogi-style beef marinated in soy sauce and pear juice gets ssamchu, a leafy cabbage, at the very end, stems first and leaves a minute later. That split leaves crunchy stems next to leaves that have only just wilted, and any longer in the pan would drain the greens of their sweetness and moisture.
Starting with sliced lotus root boiled in vinegar water helps remove bitterness while keeping the vegetable pale and crisp. The seasoning combines gochugaru, minced garlic, and anchovy fish sauce with the addition of fresh pear juice. This pear juice provides natural sugars and necessary moisture so the chili paste coats each slice evenly without becoming dry or clumping. Even after the fermentation process begins, the lotus root maintains its signature firm and crunchy texture. Sliced scallions are tossed in to add a fresh aromatic quality that balances the spicy garlic paste. One full day of refrigeration allows the flavors to settle into the flesh before serving. Because the seasoning gets trapped inside the characteristic holes of the root, the paste should remain thick rather than watery to ensure consistent flavor. When left to ferment for a few more days, the developing acidity helps cut through the richness of grilled meats or fried dishes.
Crown daisy is slightly bitter and oyster mushrooms are mild, and the two stay distinct on the plate. The mushrooms are torn along the grain and cooked dry in a wide pan first; the crown daisy goes in right before the heat is turned off.
Doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste) does most of the seasoning, with only a little gochujang, so the pork comes out savory and salty rather than hot. The crown daisy goes in after the meat is cooked and comes off the heat just as the leaves wilt, keeping its slightly bitter scent.
The bean sprouts are not pulled after 30 seconds but cooked through, which makes this a soft stir-fry rather than a crunchy one. The oyster mushrooms are torn along the grain instead of cut, and the seasoning is soup soy sauce and salt.
The eggs are cooked only about 70 percent of the way, set aside, and folded back in at the end, which keeps the curds soft. Tomatoes cut a little larger than bite size can release their juice without collapsing right away.
It starts in perilla oil and finishes with ground perilla seed, so that toasty perilla aroma shows up twice. Taro stems are long and stringy by nature; even after soaking up the soy broth and going soft, you can still feel the fibers when you chew.