Daily Korean Food?

B-Roll

United States403 Posts

June 25 2010 06:13 GMT

So I have been telling myself for the past year that I am going to lose weight. Well I am moving to a new place next month and have decided thats when I need to start.

Now for my question, for the people who live in Korea or for people who know a lot about Korean cooking. What do you eat on a normal week? What do you have for breakfast? What cooking supplies should I always have?

I have a rice cooker and thats about it.

Please post anything you know, websites, family recipes, anything can help.

Thanks TL!

HeadhunteR

Argentina1258 Posts

June 25 2010 06:22 GMT

the first step to loose weight is to start exercising, start running.. you do have time for it 3 hs every week does wonders. I believe that korean food takes some time to make, try to check out the youtube channels on korean foods like maangchi and others you can find just by searching how to make kimchi on youtube... and stop thinking about loseing weight just do it start going to the gym the maximum amount of days you can dont stress yourself about it just start doing..

phosphorylation

United States2935 Posts

June 25 2010 06:22 GMT

I do not want to discourage you because korean food is the best food and also it's comparatively healthier than many cuisines.
However, it is also one of the most complicated and difficult cuisines to prepare -- at least compared to most American food.

I DON'T recommend setting out to make Kimchi of any sort in the beginning, or anything too fancy. Even seasoned Korean housewives struggle on Kimchi, because it's complex and hard to get right -- and when you don't do it right, it's arguably inedible.

You should start with the simpler meat dishes, like bulgogi or kalbi (or maybe even sam geop sal). Mind you, this is still more difficult than cooking up spaghetti or steak.

IntoTheWow

is awesome32278 Posts

June 25 2010 06:24 GMT

I'm going to guess Ramen.

XDawn

Canada4040 Posts

June 25 2010 06:29 GMT

I don't know what to translate the Korean words into English but my daily usually consists of
(Just dailys @ home, something you would eat Breakfest/Lunch/Dinner), nothing special.

밥 Rice
반찬 Side dishes
국 or 찌개

Thats about. it.

I hope someone else in TL can translate those for you more properly 'cause I don't know what it is in ENG.

Milkis

5003 Posts

June 25 2010 06:33 GMT

Ramen is rare, I don't like eating ramen more than once or twice a week because it's unhealthy. If I have enough money, I will eat Ramen maybe once every few months.

You're not going to make any hardcore Korean dishes -- but the really basic everyday dishes aren't bad. A lot of Korean sidedishes tend to be vegetable oriented -- bean sprouts, spinach, beans, cucumbers especially come to mind, and they're rather easy to prepare as side dishes. Egg dishes are also easy, like Gyeranjjim which you can literally just microwaving an egg after you beat it up. Things like that.

Depends on your budget, I guess. I like making East Asian Style Curry, which is cheap and you can eat for a while. Just need Potatos, Onions, Meat of your choice, Other vegetables of your choice, and curry mixes.

Don't try to make Kimchi. Just buy them in a Jar... that's honestly the best you're going to get because the chances are you're not going to be able to make Kimchi that's half edible no matter how many youtube videos you look up.

The typical Korean Breakfast revolves around soup/stew. Miyuk Gook (Seaweed Soup) and DwenJjang Gook (Korean Miso Soup) and Kkongnamul Gook (Bean Sprout Soup) are nice. The latter two are also really easy to get correctly. Kimchi Stew is also relatively easy.

Also, fried rice is common for lunch. There's various different kinds and honestly it's not hard.

There are also noodle dishes that are really easy like NengMyun and Bibimmyun. YOu can usually buy packets for these (nengmyun takes a while to get it down properly so buying packets isn't a bad idea), etc.

In terms of cooking supplies, you'll almost always want Garlic. It's used nearly in every dish. Peeled and Crushed and Diced. You also want red peppers, and red pepper paste, and miso if you want to make stew/soup. Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil is also essential. Sesame too, I guess. If you want to start doing higher end stuff you'll need myulchi (sorta like anchovies but not really) so you can make the bases for the soup/dishes you're going to be doing.

I could try giving you recipes but I honestly just dump everything in and then cook as it goes so I don't know how to transfer them. But you should look for dishes like that. If all else fails you can just mash the sidedishes together with Rice and make bbibbimbap, which is still good ^_^b

mOnion

United States5657 Posts

June 25 2010 06:38 GMT

why do you want to eat korean food to lose weight rather than, you know, exercising?

I can tell you which is cheaper.

phosphorylation

United States2935 Posts

June 25 2010 06:39 GMT

coz korean food is awesome?

mOnion

United States5657 Posts

June 25 2010 06:40 GMT

that's a terrible response that still doesn't answer the question as to why he picked that particular cuisine to lose weight.

phosphorylation

United States2935 Posts

June 25 2010 06:41 GMT

#10

BTW OP, white rice actually isn't the best thing to eat when you want to race. I recommend korean style mixed grain rice or something like that.

Milkis

5003 Posts

June 25 2010 06:42 GMT

#11

On June 25 2010 15:41 phosphorylation wrote:
BTW OP, white rice actually isn't the best thing to eat when you want to race. I recommend korean style mixed grain rice or something like that.

I don't think anyone who isn't used to that will be willing to eat that... Oh Gok Bbap is crazy

The least he could do is mix brown rice in the white rice when making the rice... assuming the Rice cooker has a setting for that (Mine does!)

NokCha

Korea (South)410 Posts

June 25 2010 06:43 GMT

#12

alot of koreans i know just eat sweet potatoes and run to lose weight lol

[Agony]x90

United States853 Posts

June 25 2010 06:44 GMT

#13

From my experience, Korean home cooked food is predominantly soups and stews (almost none of which i eat; sorry mom T.T), and the amount of meat you get is very little (oh, this is why i don't eat my moms cooking). In any case, i would say the reason Korean food is so healthy is because it is usually boiled and not fried. My parents almost never use oil, and will almost always use water instead (once again, sorry mom that i'm so American), so what they cook is always healthy, and what i eat is probably shaving years off my life. A very simple something that i can cook involves taking dough and mixing it with water. Boil some water with anchovies in it (you can remove them after if you like). Add whatever salts/spices/etc and make a broth that you would enjoy drinking. Rip smaller pieces of dough off of the whole and throw it in. Add scallion, onions, kimchi, and whatever else you want, and there you go. A very simple dish. I don't know if this is actually "korean", but my dad and i used to make it when i was much younger. It's really not too bad, and very easy to make and healthy.

However, i would like to give you the warning. Korean food may be healthy in terms of fat, weight control and what not, but it tends to have way too much salt and spices (pepper pastes, pepper powder, and what not). For this reason, a lot of Koreans end up having high blood pressure, ulcers, or other unwanted digestive issues. While it beats dying of a heart attack because your fatass couldn't get up to run every once in a while, it's something you have to keep in mind; Korean food can be and tends to be very bad in terms of salt. Good luck though, and i hope you'll enjoy Korean food more than i have. kk back to mah burgers and fries.

NeverGG

United Kingdom5399 Posts

June 25 2010 07:14 GMT

#14

Milkis pretty much summed it up. I've lost 12kg in the last two months due to dieting here in Seoul. My usual daily diet consists of the following;

Breakfast; Apple, banana and a couple of bottles of water or 1 piece of fruit and a small cereal bar.

Snack; Another piece of fruit if I only had one for breakfast, or some chopped veggies. (Usually celery sticks or carrot, or a small yogurt.

Lunch; Korean cook's broth based soup (1/2 a cup - 1 cup.) vegetable or egg side dishes (1-2tbsps) No fried side dishes, or simple carb based stuff. None of the rice, no noodles, no bread *or* a salad with 2tbsps of dressing and a yogurt/fruit depending upon what I had for my snack and breakfast, lots of water.

Afternoon snack; Usually depends upon earlier meals. Could be fruit, cereal bar, or veggies.

Dinner; Mainly tofu mixed with various sauces, veggies and herbs. Sometimes omelets, lots of steamed, or raw veggies, sparing use of dressings, salads, yooboo (tofu used for a certain type of kimbap.) Also chicken breast (grilled or cold cut.) wholemeal bread used sparingly and again more water.

No Korean junk foods except for one non-diet meal a week on a Saturday lunch time, and *only* if I've eaten completely healthily all week. Vitamins taken daily, 15 minutes jogging, 30 reps with 1kg weights (I'm building up gradually.) and the long walk home every day except for Sunday and Saturday. Oh and no food after 7:30pm if at all possible.

Tofu is my friend. I recommend checking out blogs like 'Alien's Day Out' written by vegetarians and vegans in Seoul if you want some traditional Korean recipies which are also heavy on the health aspect

Disregard

China10252 Posts

June 25 2010 07:24 GMT

#15

I can just eat Kimchi and rice, but excess carbs is a no-no. Though Kimchi gook?/jjigae is good and its simple. I actually just ate Kimchi/Chicken Breast + some rice for awhile as my main course everyday.

Though if you want to efficiently shed pounds and gain muscle mass, concentrate on the large muscles and do 20-30 minute cardio after each session.

EpiK

Korea (South)5757 Posts

June 25 2010 07:34 GMT

#16

there's always a bowl of kimchi jiggae (kimchi stew that has kimchi + spam + other veggies) or dwenjang jiggae (salty miso soup which usually has a lot of tofu + zucchini + onions + other veggies) on the table. The thing about jiggae is that it is meant to be kind of salty (especially dwejang jiggae) so often times steamed rice is mixed in with the soup to offset the saltiness but you don't have to do that.

Also, I wouldn't bother trying to make side-dishes. They're usually sold in these clear plastic containers in local asian markets. You can also buy kimchi by the jar, which are usually really good.

Another dish that I have often is daktori-tang which is basically a spicy chicken stew with chicken drumsticks + korean chili paste + lots of potatoes + onions + garlic + water. This dish is amazingly easy to make and is really great with steamed rice.

good luck in losing weight! Stay away from galbi and samgyubsal (korean bbq) and don't eat too much rice.

Waxangel

United States33592 Posts

June 25 2010 07:59 GMT

#17

On June 25 2010 16:14 NeverGG wrote:
Milkis pretty much summed it up. I've lost 12kg in the last two months due to dieting here in Seoul. My usual daily diet consists of the following;

Breakfast; Apple, banana and a couple of bottles of water or 1 piece of fruit and a small cereal bar.

Snack; Another piece of fruit if I only had one for breakfast, or some chopped veggies. (Usually celery sticks or carrot, or a small yogurt.

Lunch; Korean cook's broth based soup (1/2 a cup - 1 cup.) vegetable or egg side dishes (1-2tbsps) No fried side dishes, or simple carb based stuff. None of the rice, no noodles, no bread *or* a salad with 2tbsps of dressing and a yogurt/fruit depending upon what I had for my snack and breakfast, lots of water.

Afternoon snack; Usually depends upon earlier meals. Could be fruit, cereal bar, or veggies.

Dinner; Mainly tofu mixed with various sauces, veggies and herbs. Sometimes omelets, lots of steamed, or raw veggies, sparing use of dressings, salads, yooboo (tofu used for a certain type of kimbap.) Also chicken breast (grilled or cold cut.) wholemeal bread used sparingly and again more water.

No Korean junk foods except for one non-diet meal a week on a Saturday lunch time, and *only* if I've eaten completely healthily all week. Vitamins taken daily, 15 minutes jogging, 30 reps with 1kg weights (I'm building up gradually.) and the long walk home every day except for Sunday and Saturday. Oh and no food after 7:30pm if at all possible.

Tofu is my friend. I recommend checking out blogs like 'Alien's Day Out' written by vegetarians and vegans in Seoul if you want some traditional Korean recipies which are also heavy on the health aspect

that sounds pretty hardcore, like 1400~1500 calories or less =o

I did something like that at once, I was unbearably miserable

although it did work! starvation is a pretty reliable weight loser

SuperJongMan

Jamaica11586 Posts

June 25 2010 08:09 GMT

#18

Yeah... looking at vegetarian diets of any sort make me feel dizzy.
I tried making Korean food everyday once... lasted a week and a half.
Since then, I've only made Dak Dori Tang repeatedly cuz its ez.

igotmyown

United States4291 Posts

June 25 2010 08:10 GMT

#19

White rice is the new enemy in Korea. Turns out it has around triple the glycemic level (whatever that means) of other grains, it's kind of like eating pure sugar, and eating too much carries a diabetes risk.

You make a years worth of kimchi once a year, and you bury it in the ground so it doesn't go bad.

Waxangel

United States33592 Posts

June 25 2010 08:25 GMT

#20

yah but more and more people are moving into apartments, so it's kind of hard to have the traditional yard and gigantic ceramic pot of kimchi

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