Recipes with toasted sesame seeds

240 recipes. Page 3 of 10

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Korean Fresh Eggplant Kimchi

Tearing steamed eggplant by hand along its grain, instead of slicing it, leaves ragged surfaces that pull the chili, garlic and fish sauce dressing deep between the fibers. There is no fermentation, so it is eaten the day it is made, ideally in summer when eggplant is in season and a quick extra side dish is needed. Spooned over cold rice and mixed, it becomes a simple meal on its own, with soft eggplant and spicy dressing coating every grain.

Prep 20min Cook 10min 2 servings

Noodles Medium

Korean Chili Oil Seafood Soy Bibim Noodles

Shrimp, squid and springy fresh wheat noodles share a dark, glossy dressing of chili oil, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Oyster sauce bridges the seafood's briny sweetness and the soy base, so the bowl leans toward savory depth rather than plain saltiness. Blending the chili oil evenly into the soy seasoning before tossing lets it coat the noodles and seafood in a thin, even film. Speed decides the texture: a short blanch and a quick high-heat toss keep the shrimp bouncy and the squid tender instead of rubbery. The noodles keep softening while they are mixed, so they come out of the pot 30 seconds short of the package time, and both noodles and seafood are drained hard so no water dilutes the sauce.

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Salads Easy

Korean Tofu Yuja Salad (Pan-Fried Tofu Citrus Dressing)

Firm tofu is seared in a dry pan until golden, then dressed with yuja-cheong, a Korean citron marmalade, mixed with soy sauce, vinegar and olive oil. The citron peel gives a faint bitterness and a fragrance that soy sauce alone never brings to plain tofu. Yuja has been grown on Korea's southern coast, around Goheung and Namhae, since the Joseon era. Tofu that still holds water thins the dressing and mutes that fragrance. Thinly sliced onion and baby greens add crunch on top. Serve it within 2 hours, while the tofu still holds its firm shape.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 12min Cook 5min 2 servings

Side dishes Easy

Broccoli Doenjang Muchim

Peeled and sliced thin, the broccoli stem cooks in the same 1 minute 30 seconds as the florets and goes into the bowl with them, leaving nothing from the head to waste. Pull the broccoli while it is still bright and firm, because overcooked florets break apart as soon as the dressing is folded in.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🏠 Everyday

Prep 10min Cook 5min 4 servings

Rice Medium

Korean Dureup Pot Rice (Spring Angelica Shoot Pot Rice)

Dureup, the spring shoots of the Korean angelica tree, are around only briefly each spring. They get no more than 30 seconds in salted boiling water before going on top of the rice to cook under the lid; any longer and the bitter, woody scent fades and the green turns dull. The rice cooks in kelp stock.

Prep 15min Cook 30min 2 servings

Stir-fry Medium

Korean Aster Greens Beef Stir-fry

Perilla oil goes in twice, once to heat the pan and again after the heat is off, so its nutty smell sits on top of the slightly bitter chwinamul, a wild aster green. The boiled greens are squeezed only until they stop dripping, and whatever water is left cooks off in the pan with the soy sauce.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 18min Cook 12min 4 servings

Street food Medium

Korean Soy Garlic Dakgangjeong

Soy sauce, minced garlic, and syrup with a little vinegar make a glaze that is salty-sweet with no heat. Boiled down too long, the soy turns harshly salty, so the chicken goes in while the sauce is still thin and gets just a quick glossy coat over high heat.

Prep 20min Cook 25min 4 servings

Grilled Medium

Korean Aralia Shoot Pork Belly Skewers

In spring, when dureup is in season, the blanched aralia shoots are rolled up in thin pork belly, threaded onto skewers, brushed with gochujang paste and grilled. The shoots get only 20 seconds in boiling water to keep their crunch and bitter, green aroma.

Prep 22min Cook 12min 2 servings

Steamed Easy

Korean Braised Potatoes (Soy-Glazed Braised Potato Banchan)

Instead of small whole potatoes, this version peels ordinary ones and cuts them into bite-size chunks. The corn syrup waits until the potatoes are nearly tender; added that late, it stays a thin shine instead of turning into a sticky syrup. Serve it warm or fully cooled.

Prep 10min Cook 20min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Perilla Leaf Kimchi

No fermentation is needed: the soy-based seasoning is brushed between the leaves and the kimchi is ready to eat the same day. Sesame oil softens the sharp, herbal edge of perilla, and the chili flakes stay light enough that the green of the leaves still shows. On day one the brightly seasoned top leaves are the ones to eat, while the wilted leaves underneath soak up more after half a day. Two to three refrigerated days let the seasoning reach into every leaf, ready to wrap warm rice or grilled meat.

Prep 25min Cook 5min 4 servings

Noodles Easy

Korean Gochujang Bibim Udon Cup (Spicy Mixed Udon Cup)

Thick udon wears a coat of red gochujang dressing in this cold cup, with raw shredded cabbage and carrot adding crunch against the soft noodles. Oligosaccharide syrup gives the sauce enough body to cling to slippery udon, and vinegar keeps the heat bright rather than heavy. The frozen udon is blanched for just 1 minute so the thick strands keep their spring. Cabbage and carrot are pressed dry with a paper towel first to keep their water from thinning the dressing. Portioned into cups, it is easy to carry and eat by hand, though it tastes best served cold right away before the noodles swell.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes

Prep 12min Cook 8min 2 servings

Salads Easy

Korean Spicy Sea Snail Salad

Springy canned sea snails (golbaengi) are tossed with cucumber, onion and scallion in a hot, sour and sweet sauce of gochujang, chili flakes, vinegar and sugar, a classic drinking snack in Korea. A 5-minute soak in cold water takes the harsh edge off the onion so it blends into the sauce. The snails drain well in a sieve first, as leftover brine from the can thins the sauce until it no longer clings. The plate goes to the table right away: once dressed, the salt starts drawing water out of the vegetables. Spooned over thin somyeon noodles, it becomes golbaengi somyeon, with the noodles soaking up the dressing.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🍺 Bar Snacks

Prep 15min Cook 3min 2 servings

Side dishes Easy

Buchu Muchim

No heat touches the garlic chives: they are simply tossed with soy sauce, vinegar and gochugaru. Pressing or squeezing draws water out of the stems, so the tossing is a light lift for no more than 20 seconds, and the dish is served right away or within five minutes.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🏠 Everyday

Prep 12min Cook 3min 2 servings

Rice Easy

Swiss Chard Ssambap

Small balls of sesame-oil rice and a dab of garlicky ssamjang, a Korean dipping paste of soybean and chili, are wrapped in Swiss chard leaves blanched for just 30 seconds. The one bit of prep that matters is shaving down the thick rib on the back of each leaf with a flat knife; left whole, it stays stiff and pokes through when you fold.

Prep 15min Cook 10min 2 servings

Stir-fry Easy

Soy-Glazed Chicken Thigh Stir-Fry

Think of it as a close cousin of teriyaki: the same sticky sweet-salty shine, but with garlic and ginger fried in the oil first so their sharpness comes through more directly. Patting the boneless thighs dry matters, since a wet surface colors slowly even over high heat.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 15min Cook 15min 2 servings

Street food Easy

Korean Tteok Kkochi Yangnyeom Gui (Grilled Rice Cake Skewers)

Equal parts gochujang, ketchup, and oligosaccharide syrup, brushed on in two thin coats, give these grilled skewers their glossy red finish. Hard garae-tteok soaks in warm water for only 5 minutes, since longer soaking makes it crack on the skewer. Sesame seeds go on at the end, and cheese powder is an option.

Prep 15min Cook 14min 4 servings

Grilled Medium

Korean Dwaeji Kkeopdegi Gui (Grilled Pork Skin)

Blanching time decides the texture of pork skin, which is almost pure collagen: too short and it stays rubbery, too long and it goes limp. On the grill the skin buckles into ridges that trap the gochujang glaze, concentrating spicy-sweet flavor in every groove.

Prep 20min Cook 18min 2 servings

Steamed Easy

Korean Braised Potatoes and Quail Eggs

In the same soy broth, the potato soaks up seasoning to the center while the peeled quail eggs only brown on the outside. It has long been a familiar lunchbox side for Korean children, and it is seasoned without any heat.

🍱 Lunchbox

Prep 15min Cook 25min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Dried Radish Soy Pickles

Drying concentrates the radish's sweetness, and the rehydrated strips keep a chew that sets them apart from fresh radish pickles, as long as the soak in lukewarm water stops at 20 minutes, when the centers bend but before they turn floppy. The chili flakes are stirred into the brine after it has cooled completely, so the color spreads evenly through the jar.

Prep 30min Cook 8min 4 servings

Noodles Medium

Cold Ramen Salad

Ice-chilled ramen noodles topped with neat stripes of egg crepe, ham, cucumber and tomato get a tangy soy-vinegar dressing poured over instead of a broth. Because the sauce is a drizzle, not a soup, each topping keeps its own flavor and color. Cutting the egg, ham and cucumber to the same thin width makes the plate look tidy and lets every bite pick up a bit of everything, and the dressing goes on only at the table so the noodles stay springy.

Prep 20min Cook 10min 2 servings

Salads Medium

Gosari Smoked Duck Salad (Smoked Duck & Bracken Fern Salad)

Smoked duck brings fat and smoke, and this salad answers with a sharp soy-vinegar dressing spiked with chili oil plus thin slices of Korean pear that burst with juice. The duck gets only 3 minutes over medium heat, skin side down, to render its fat without drying out the meat. Gosari, the bracken fern Koreans usually eat as a seasoned side dish, is blanched for just 1 minute so it loses any off flavor but keeps its chewy bite. The pear is tossed with a little dressing as soon as it is sliced, which slows browning, and meets the greens only at serving time. Red chard and finely shredded cabbage give the plate a crisp base.

🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 15min Cook 8min 2 servings

Side dishes Easy

Chamnamul Muchim

Chamnamul pairs soft leaves with crisp stems, and the whole method aims to keep both after blanching. Cut to 5 cm, a stem and its leaves come up together in one pinch of chopsticks, and the dish goes to the table at room temperature while the stems still snap.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🏠 Everyday

Prep 10min Cook 3min 4 servings

Rice Medium

Korean Seaweed Rice Roll

The spinach is squeezed hard before it is seasoned, the carrot is sauteed to drive off water, and the rice is left to cool a little before it is spread on the seaweed. All three steps are there to keep the gim from going soggy. The finished roll and the knife both get a thin coat of sesame oil before slicing.

Prep 30min Cook 15min 2 servings

Stir-fry Easy

Korean Crumbled Tofu Stir-fry

Pressed dry and broken up by hand into a mix of large curds and fine crumbs, the tofu is cooked over high heat with only occasional turning until the edges turn lightly golden and the crumbles are loose and fluffy. Seasoned simply with soy sauce and sesame oil, it works spooned over rice or packed in a lunch box, since there is no sauce to leak.

🏠 Everyday 🍱 Lunchbox

Prep 12min Cook 10min 2 servings