Healthy Meals

One of the joys of Korean cuisine is having a number of healthy and yummy side dishes to eat along with each main course.

Kim chi - fermented, spicy cabbage - is easily the most celebrated Korean side dish.

This is a printer-friendly version of my mom's recipe for cucumber kim chi. If you'd like to see how this is done in pictures, view:

How to Make Cucumber Kim Chi

This is easily one of my favorite Korean side dishes. Hope you and your loved ones enjoy it.

If you don't have trouble digesting whole grains that contain naturally occurring gluten, oats make for a healthy and satisfying meal - a bowl of hot oatmeal is especially nice on cold fall and winter mornings.

Of the many varieties of oats on the market, your best choice is steel-cut oats, which are whole oat groats that have been cut into small pieces. Steel-cut oats are more nutritious than varieties like rolled or quick oats, which are somewhat nutrient-depleted due to heavier processing.

This is a text-only version of my mom's famous healthy Jap Chae recipe. It's 100% vegan-friendly and the flavors and textures are through the roof.

To view this recipe in photos, please click here:

How to Make Jap Chae

The star of this dish is a highly unique Korean food product: glass noodles that are made with sweet potato starch.

These gluten-free noodles are often called glass noodles because when cooked, they take on a brilliant, translucent look.

In Korean, these noodles are called dang myung, and they look like this right out of the package:

My mom recently told me that this is the only Korean recipe that my older sister has ever asked her for. Quite understandable, as you won't find a lighter or fluffier egg dish anywhere.

Korean steamed eggs are similar to quiche, but without a crust, and did I mention that these eggs are amazingly light and fluffy?

Of the countless varieties of kim chi that are made in Korea, by far the most common and celebrated version is made with Napa cabbage.

Kim chi that's made with cabbage is loaded with indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a compound that is well recognized as a powerful cancer-fighting compound. Numerous studies indicate that I3C can offer protection against many different types of cancer and may even stop the growth of existing tumors.

Korean pancakes, called bin dae duk, are unique in that they aren't made with flour. Traditionally, bin dae duk includes small amounts of pork, but in the interest of healthy eating, this version is 100% plant-based - nothing but hearty beans, fresh vegetables, and a small amount of rice.

Mool naeng myun is a favorite summertime dish in Korea, and is best known for its refreshingly cool and tangy broth. Mool is Korean for "water," while naeng myun translates to buckwheat noodles.

The secret to good mool naeng myun is in the broth. My mom tells me that mool naeng myun broth is traditionally made by combining one part chicken broth with one part beef broth and one part kim chi brine.

If you ever find yourself at a Korean restaurant and unsure about what to order, know that you can't go wrong in ordering bibimbap (pronounced bee-beem-bahp).

Bibim means "mixed," while bap means "rice." But bibimbap is far more than mixed rice. It calls for perfectly cooked rice with a number of well seasoned vegetables, mixed well with sesame oil and just a touch of red chili paste. If you enjoy mushrooms, eggs, chicken, or beef, you can add any one or all of these items to create your own version of bibimbap.