Side dishes

Side dishes Recipes

636 recipes. Page 7 of 27

Everyday Korean side dish recipes

Korean Cauliflower Jangajji (Pickled Cauliflower)

Dense cauliflower takes up brine slowly and stays firm long after softer vegetables like cucumber would give way. Florets a little bigger than one bite, each with some stem left on, hold up best, while small pieces soften fast. Apple vinegar and sugar give a clean sweet-sour top note, with soy sauce underneath. Bay leaves and a dried chili spread through the jar add aroma, and flipping the jar once on the first day seasons the upper florets as evenly as the lower ones. It cuts nicely through fried or grilled food.

At least 2 days 6 min 4 servings

Salads Easy

Korean Spicy Squid Salad (Gochujang Blanched Squid)

Blanched squid tossed in gochujang, chili flakes and vinegar works as both a drinking snack and a side dish with rice. Timing decides almost everything: past a minute to a minute and a half in boiling water the flesh contracts and turns rubbery, while undercooked squid stays translucent in the middle. An ice bath right after stops the carryover heat and locks in the springy bite.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🍺 Bar Snacks

Prep 15min Cook 5min 4 servings

Side dishes Easy

Cheonggyeongchae Namul Muchim

Bok choy usually ends up in stir-fries, but blanched and dressed with doenjang (Korean soybean paste) it becomes a namul with crisp stalks and an earthy, salty seasoning. Rub the dressing right into the hollow of each stalk with your fingers.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🏠 Everyday

Prep 8min Cook 4min 2 servings

Stir-fry Easy

Korean Stir-fried Chives and Shrimp

The garlic chives are split into white stems and green leaves and go in separately. Shrimp cook in oil already scented with sliced garlic, the stems join with the soy and oyster sauce, and the leaves go in last and are done within a minute.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🏠 Everyday

Prep 12min Cook 8min 2 servings

Grilled Easy

Korean Grilled Gizzard Shad

This is autumn gizzard shad, the fish whose grilling smell, as the Korean saying goes, could bring a runaway daughter-in-law back home. It is full of fine bones; scored every 0.5 cm on both sides, it grills soft enough to eat bones and all. The dip is minced ginger and cheongyang chili in soy sauce and vinegar.

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Pancakes Easy

Korean Sweet Potato Pancakes

A batter with a teaspoon of sugar in it coats thin strands of sweet potato only lightly, and the back of a spoon presses the mixture as flat as it will go in the pan. The sugar helps the edges color quickly and makes the sweet potato taste sweeter.

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Steamed Medium

Korean Braised Kelp Strips

Glossy braised kelp should have a springy, almost jelly-like bite that snaps cleanly. That spring is decided at the soaking stage: take the kelp out when it bends easily rather than by the clock, because kelp left too long in the water goes soft.

At least 35 min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Celery Jangajji (Blanched Soy Lemon Pickle)

Celery's raw sharpness puts some people off, but a soy pickle softens it into a cool, herbal crunch. Pulling the tough strings off the stalks and blanching for thirty seconds takes away the grassy edge while keeping the scent. Skin-on lemon slices and whole garlic cloves sit between the pieces, adding citrus and a mild bite. It is ready cold from the second day and tastes fuller after four to five days.

Prep 15min Cook 8min 4 servings

Salads Easy

Korean Scallion Salad (Spicy Green Onion Grilled Meat Side)

Leek-like daepa scallions are shredded into fine threads along the grain and soaked in cold water, which takes off the harsh bite and makes the strands curl lightly. The mellowed shreds are heaped beside grilled meat and picked up together with each slice.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 10min 0 4 servings

Side dishes Easy

Cheongpo Muk Muchim

White, slippery mung bean jelly is mixed with strips of cucumber and carrot in a tangy soy and vinegar dressing. The thin jelly breaks if stirred, so it is lifted from the bottom with chopsticks about six times and no more.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🏠 Everyday

Prep 15min Cook 2min 4 servings

Stir-fry Easy

Korean Busan-Style Stir-fried Fish Cake

The sheet fish cakes (eomuk) start with 20 seconds in boiling water to rinse off their surface oil. Skip it and a stale, oily taste lingers after the stir-fry is done. Once the fish cake joins the onion and carrot, it is all over in about three minutes.

🏠 Everyday 🍱 Lunchbox

Prep 12min Cook 10min 4 servings

Grilled Easy

Korean Horse Mackerel with Yuzu Soy Glaze

Two horse mackerel sit in a yuzu-soy marinade for just 10 minutes before going onto a grill pan. The bits of yuzu in the marmalade burn easily, which is why half the marinade is held back and brushed on only in the last minute. Sesame oil and scallions go on after the heat is off.

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Pancakes Easy

Korean Pan-fried Oyster Jeon

Fresh oysters, at their best in winter, get a very light dusting of flour and a dip in egg before frying, with chopped garlic chives added at the end. Large ones can still be underdone in the middle after the outside turns golden, and the heat goes down while they stay in the pan a little longer.

Prep 18min Cook 12min 2 servings

Steamed Medium

Korean Soy-Braised Deodeok Root

Deodeok, a mountain root with a bitter, faintly resinous aroma, mellows as the soy and rice syrup glaze soaks in, though the inside stays firm and chewy. The roots are lightly pounded and then torn by hand, and those rough surfaces take on a lacquered coat of sauce.

Prep 20min Cook 18min 2 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Chamnamul Jangajji (Pimpinella Pickles)

Hot brine would drive off chamnamul's fresh, herbal fragrance, so the soy and apple-vinegar mixture cools for about 5 minutes and goes on lukewarm. Apple vinegar has a rounder acidity than plain vinegar and lets the greens stay grassy, while a squeeze of lemon added after boiling sharpens the finish. The stems are packed loosely and kept fully under the brine in the fridge so aroma and seasoning spread evenly. Stirred into rice or tucked into a lettuce wrap with pork belly, the greens cut through the fat. It is ready after a day, and the scent lasts about five days.

Prep 15min Cook 8min 2 servings

Salads Easy

Korean Tofu and Bell Pepper Salad

Coarse, soft lumps of tofu sit between thin strips of red and yellow pepper and cucumber, and each bite alternates between creamy and crisp. The soy and vinegar dressing is a small amount, and any water left on the tofu or vegetables thins it quickly and pools at the bottom of the bowl.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 12min Cook 3min 2 servings

Side dishes Medium

Chonggak Muchim

Chonggak radishes are cut into thin diagonal slices, salted briefly and dressed with gochugaru and fish sauce, then eaten crunchy the same day rather than left to ferment. If the tender greens are still attached, they go in too.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🏠 Everyday

Prep 20min 0 4 servings

Stir-fry Easy

Korean Busan-Style Soy Fish Cake Stir-Fry

A single cheongyang chili, a hot Korean green pepper, goes into this soy-glazed fish cake. The fish cake is cut into long, thin strips and browned over high heat before any sauce goes near it, and the soy seasoning then goes on so briefly that almost none is left in the pan.

🏠 Everyday 🍱 Lunchbox

Prep 10min Cook 12min 4 servings

Grilled Medium

Korean Grilled Yellow Croaker

Yellow croaker is set on ancestral rite tables, but most days it is just a side next to rice and soup. It gets salt, a thin dusting of flour, and a pan over medium heat. Fish usually break because they are turned too early; wait until the underside browns and lets go of the pan on its own, then flip it in one move with two wide spatulas.

Prep 15min Cook 15min 2 servings

Pancakes Medium

Assorted Korean Pancakes (Holiday Mixed Jeon Platter)

Meat patties (donggeurangttaeng), zucchini, shiitake and chilies share one platter on Seollal and Chuseok tables. They all wear the same flour and egg coat, but the prep differs: zucchini is salted and blotted, and shiitake lose their stems and get flour on the inside too. Only three or four pieces of one kind go into the pan at a time to keep it hot.

Prep 30min Cook 30min 4 servings

Steamed Medium

Soy Braised Pork Back Ribs

The back ribs soak in cold water for an hour and get a ten-minute parboil before they are braised. Without that, the soy glaze would not cling and the liquid would not taste clean. In a sauce with pear juice, about forty minutes is enough for the meat to start lifting from the bone.

Prep 75min Cook 60min 4 servings

Kimchi Medium

Korean Chamnamul Kimchi (Pimpinella Kimchi)

Chamnamul greens are salted for just 10 minutes and dressed without rinsing, letting the leftover salt season them. A gentle squeeze is enough, since wringing bruises the tender leaves and makes them slump during fermentation. Blended Korean pear and onion in the sweet rice paste round off the chili heat. With so much moisture in the greens, fermentation moves fast and the kimchi softens if kept too long. Small batches eaten within a few days work best.

Prep 30min Cook 5min 4 servings

Salads Easy

Korean Fresh Lettuce Geotjeori

Torn lettuce gets a thin, glossy coat of red chili dressing seconds before it reaches the table, usually beside grilled pork belly or other grilled meat. The dressing rests for about a minute first, long enough for the chili flakes to soften and lose their dusty taste. Geotjeori is a fresh, unaged kimchi-style salad, and it does not hold: left to sit, the leaves wilt and liquid gathers in the bowl. When the dressing tastes thin, drying the lettuce matters more than adjusting the sauce: the usual cause is water trapped between the leaves rather than too little seasoning. Thin slices of onion add a sharp edge against the mild bitterness of the leaves. Plum syrup gives a fruitier, subtler sweetness than sugar, and vinegar tempers the chili heat.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 10min 0 2 servings

Side dishes Easy

Chwinamul

Salt, perilla oil and garlic season this chamchwi; there is no soy sauce or doenjang, and the herb's own aroma leads. The greens are turned in boiling water for about a minute and lifted out when the leaves brighten and the stems just start to bend.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🏠 Everyday

Prep 10min Cook 5min 2 servings