Healthy Korean Recipes

While slowly fermented cabbage and pungent garlic are the ingredients most people associate with kimchi, there are dozens and dozens of other versions of Korea's national dish, featuring all manner of vegetables, such as these quickly pickled cucumbers with just a trace of garlic.

If you're a tempeh skeptic, you've probably never had the firm soy-based slabs slathered with a sweet-and-spicy barbecue sauce. We give this easy BBQ tempeh combo a punch of umami with tamari and add a little heat courtesy of gochujang. It's easy to put your own spin on this recipe; see Variations (below) for some riffs.

Oily fish, such as mackerel, are strong-flavored and pair well with boldly seasoned glazes made from gochujang chile paste. The red, rich paste is so common in Korea that it is sold in virtually every supermarket in plastic containers ranging in size from about 2 cups to about 2 quarts. Normally the main ingredients are fermented soybeans ground with red chiles and powdered rice, plus a little salt and sweetener.

Get Korean street-food flavor with this quick and healthy homemade stir-fry sauce. Use it for stir-fries, as a marinade for chicken, beef or pork or for tossing with Asian noodles.

Try this salty-sweet hard-boiled egg recipe as a swap for deviled eggs at your next party or as a midday snack. Or serve on top of your next ramen noodle bowl.

Rice vinegar, sesame seeds and brown sugar make this simple sauce irresistible! One-fourth cup of sesame seeds may sound like a lot, but it's the perfect amount to give the sauce its nutty, earthy flair. Serve this slow-cooker Korean beef with hot cooked rice and garnish with thinly sliced red and green jalapeño peppers, if desired.

Korean meals always include soups--like this mild one based on vitamin-rich wakame seaweed, the same kind often used in miso soup.

If you are looking to start fermenting your own vegetables, the Korean dish kimchi is a great place to start. It's easy to make, and fermentation takes just a few days. Once you have kimchi on hand, serve this healthy dish along with any meal, as an ingredient in stir-fries, stews, savory pancakes and more, or as a condiment to liven up grain bowls, tacos, sandwiches--and the list goes on!

Make your own cup of instant soup at home with this Korean noodle recipe. Pack several jars at once to take to work for easy lunches throughout the week.

Brown sugar makes this slow-cooker beef stew a tad sweet, which beautifully complements the spicy kimchi. You can make this soup ahead and refrigerate it until ready to eat. If you opt to make it ahead, wait until you reheat the soup to add the cabbage.

Cooling cooked rice is key here—it dries out the rice and firms it up so it doesn't stick together when it's fried, yielding fluffier results.

The sticky sauce on these ribs, made with tamari (or soy sauce), gochujang, grated pear and honey, is inspired by bulgogi, a staple of Korean barbecue. Don't skip the step of running them under the broiler before serving—it gives the ribs the crisp edges you'd get from grilling. Serve with stir-fried baby bok choy and brown rice to sop up the delicious sauce.