3 EASY Korean Side Dishes

My husband, Chris, is half Korean. Our kids are 1/4 Korean, and it’s important to us that they have a connection to their heritage! Making Korean food is one way that we highlight that connection. 

Confession – making Korean food is actually so intimidating to me. I’m lucky to have an amazing sister-in-law (hey Sheila!) to guide me through it. She is so encouraging and supportive. She recently came to visit for the weekend, so I paid close attention and took notes as she did her thing in the kitchen. 

We made my three favorite Korean side dishes: cucumber kimchi, spinach kimchi and bean sprout kimchi. Regular kimchi will always be my #1, but for some reason I don’t think of it is as side. Probably because we eat it with everything.

Korean sides are called banchan. Banchan is the collective name for small dishes served alongside white rice in Korean cuisine. This might be my favorite part of Korean cuisine. GIVE ME ALL THE SIDES & SAUCES. You may remember that I am a sauce enthusiast. 

Okay, side note about my own heritage. I absolutely love Korean culture, food and traditions. I fully embrace them, because that’s something I didn’t experience growing up. My family never emphasized a connection to our heritage, so I really never thought about where we came from. 

Embarrassing story time! In third grade, we had an assignment where we were supposed to draw a doll wearing an outfit that illustrated our heritage. I was very excited about this. Paper dolls were (and still are) my favorite thing. So, I go home to find out where we came from. My parents’ final answer was Texas. That’s where my grandpa lived, so that’s where we came from, right? Perfect! 

I show up at school with my completed heritage project, and all the other kids had really cool dolls dressed in traditional clothing. Mine...was a cowgirl. A damn COWGIRL. From Texas, y’know? Thank you, parents! LOL.  

Okay enough talk, since ALL OF you praise my short blogs. But I felt this one needed a brief introduction and an embarrassing little story. Yeehaw <3

Bean Sprout + Spinach Kimchi 

These two recipes have the same base, but the cooking method is slightly different.

Follow the directions below to make 1 bag of bean sprouts and a bundle of fresh spinach. If you are only making one of those, cut recipe in half. 

You’ll need:

• 2 minced green onion (whites finely chopped) 

• 1 clove garlic

• 4 tbsp sesame oil 

• Pinch of salt 

• Dash of pepper

Optional: Red pepper powder. You can add as little or much as your fiery heart desires.

Combine all ingredients into a small dish and set aside

Garnish:

• 1 tbsp sesame seeds 

• Thinly sliced green onion 

For bean sprouts:

1. Bring water to a boil (add a little salt, this helps with color). 

2. Blanch for 2 minutes. 

3. Run them under cold water, and squeeze out the excess water with your hands. You aren’t going to hurt them, so don’t be afraid to squeeze hard. You’ll end up with a small sprout ball after the squeezing.

4. Using half of the mixture you made before, pour onto bean sprouts and stir together.

5. Serve cold. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions. 

For spinach:

1. Bring salted water to a boil. You can use same water from the bean sprouts.

2. Wash and prep the spinach by removing long stems.

3. Blanch for 30 seconds.

4. Run spinach under cold water, and squeeze out the excess water with your hands. This is the same as the bean sprouts, squeeze hard!

5. Once you have squeezed out every last drop of water, roughly chop spinach.

6. Serve cold. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.

Cucumber Kimchi 

You’ll need:

• Kirby or Persian cucumbers 

• 1 tsp soy sauce 

• 2 tsp rice vinegar 

• 1/2 tsp sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt 

• 1-2 tsp red pepper power 

• 1 thinly chopped green onion 

A mason jar works best for mixing this one! 

1. Clean and peel your cucumbers 

2. Thinly slice (1/8 inch) 

3. Add all ingredients to jar, secure lid, and shake shake shake. 

That’s it! Full transparency – I buy this cabbage kimchi at Walmart. It’s my favorite premade option. 

These sides are best served with white rice. If you really want to take it to the next level, bulgogi always delicious (it’s my absolute favorite). This weekend when we made these kimchi recipes, we also made scallion pancakes and japchae. 

Maybe Sheila and I should blog more Korean recipes? She is my secret weapon in a lot of ways. She used to have a blog called “Kimchi and Green Chile.” Can she get any cooler? 

Anyway, I hope you have the best day! 

Always and Whatever

xo