No rice! If I eat rice, I gain two pounds overnight. Really.
So I have some Korean-style short ribs. What should we have with them? I have an idea of something with bok choy, but I don’t know what. I’m thinking a nice vegetable side of some kind.
Something bright and acidic like a spicy cucumber salad.
If it’s not too labor-intensive, perhaps a spread of banchan might be in order? The Korean restaurants in my town usually serve their meals with a bunch of small plates of things like kimchi, beansprouts, marinated bamboo, and so on.
Kimchi or an Asian slaw
Really though with Korean ribs there’s no need to keep the whole dish Asian.
Any of your traditional BBQ sides will work.
Kimchi literally goes (and in fact, went) without saying. I’ll have to look into the slaw. But if we have kimchi, then I don’t know if I’d want that too.
Still leaning toward some sort of cooked vegetable dish. [NB: The Spousal Unit usually has trouble with bell peppers.] I was thinking of somehow cooking bok choy, cabbage, a little onion, and… [?] together.
Corn niblets! Bonus points if you put melted cheese and mayonnaise on top.
Great minds think alike.
What about cooked kimchi - like kimchi-jeon (fritters)
Aren’t Korean style short ribs already spicy? Aren’t they cooked with hot gochujang sauce? I’d think a cooling cucumber, sour cream, and dill side dish would be a better fit. , Sauteed squash or zucchini would be good, still a lot of that around!
How about traditional sides?
I frequent a local Korean place for Bulgogi, Bibimbap, and Yukaejang etc.
With every meal they serve side dishes of marinated bean sprouts, daikon salad, fried tofu and of course kimchi. These are all fantastic and delish and I often order extras. My google fu is weak but it is my understanding there is a whole range of these little appetizers. I have made the bean sprouts and daikon salad at home and I will also do the tofu but just raw with soy, sesame oil and chilli paste of choice.
It’s mentioned uptherad. Those appetizer thingies are called banchan.
Kimchi and rice is all you need. If you forgo rice, I’d recommend some fresh leafy greens with some spicy bean paste.
I wouldn’t do cooked veggies with Korean food. Either fresh or pickled.
No, they are usually not.
Some romaine or other leaf lettuce, an assortment of fresh herbs, especially perilla if you can find it and Ssamjang or some other spicy thick sauce. You Put some kimchi and meat in the lettuce, add some herbs on top and a dab of sauce, wrap it all up and eat it in a bite or two.
That sounds good. Might be a little finicky for my wife.
I’ve seen the thin cut short ribs on very rare occasions at a butcher shop, but, the only ones I ever had were from Trader Joe;s with the spicy Korean sauce.
That’s interesting. I searched the Trader Joe’s website, but couldn’t find that product. Do you have a link?
Here’s the traditional Korean short rib:
I went to Trader Joe’s to get my lunch, and opted to try these with the beef:
https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/asian-style-vegetables-with-stir-fry-sauce-044180/
I just looked too, and didn’t see them. I found this review from a couple of years ago.
I used to get short ribs from a Hawaiian restaurant (not in Hawaii, it served Hawaiian food like Kahlua pork), and they’d serve it with pasta salad on the side. (It wasn’t actual kalbi, but it was very similar.) I found the pairing to be extremely good.
Of course, if rice is too starchy for you, that’s definitely going to blow you up.
I’d also consider something simple, like a basic salad of lettuce and an Asian-style sesame dressing.
These were frozen in a package with spicy sauce, in the freezer case, that’s all I know. A few years ago, maybe they don’t sell them any more. Heat and serve.