Korean Diet Banchan Plate Idea. I hate the word dieting. As soon as that word comes out of my mouth, I feel anxious to lose weight quickly. And if the number doesn't drop every day, I feel worse and worse! To counter this, I set low expectations (ha!). The goal is to lose 1 kg every 2 weeks (that's about 1 lb a week). I want to slowly incorporate healthier meals into my diet. I prefer to make changes slowly - because it seems less hard. I started with these low-carb banchan plates once a week. That turned into twice a week. And during the last few weeks, I've been eating it for lunch every day of the week. Now, I'm getting sick of it - so I need to come up with new banchan plates. But you get the point!
So whats on the plate? Silken Tofu Salad, Garlic Green Bean Stir-fry, Collard Green Salad, Pan-Grilled Shabu Shabu Pork and... an apple!
The key point with this banchan plate idea is to reduce portions but add variety. An assortment of food brings excitement and more importantly, delivers balanced nutrition. If you're still hungry afterwards, grab a few more slices of the apple. The acidity in the apple helps to trigger that "full feeling" in the stomach.
Also, we purposely minimized the amount of marinade in the dish. We will use no seasoning for the meat - except for salt and pepper. After all, meat tastes great by itself.Β And we'll use the soy-sauce vinaigrette for both the silken tofu and collard-green salad.
Let me know how you guys like it! We'll do more of them if you do π
(For the Banchan Plate, click here | For Yondu, click here)
Cheers to healthier meals - and don't forget to take a walk after your meals!! 🏃♂️

Ingredients
Collard-Green Salad
- 1 Collard Green Leaf
- Few handful of Cherry Tomatoes
- Few sprinkles of Feta Cheese
Soy Vinaigrette Dressing
- 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1 Tablespoon Maesil
- 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
- 1 clove Garlic
- Few shakes Salt
- Few shakes Black Pepper
Silken Tofu Salad
- 1 Tube Silken Tofu
- Few drizzles of Soy Vinaigrette Dressing (See Above)
- Few sprinkles Green Onion (Optional, Garnish)
Spicy Garlic Green Bean Stir-fry
- Handful of Green Beans
- 2 Tablespoons of Spring Onion
- 1-2 cloves of Garlic
- Few pinches of Salt
- Few sprinkles of Dried Chili Pepper
- Dash of Yondu (Or use veggie stock)
Grilled Shabu-Shabu Pork
- 100-150 grams Thinly Sliced Pork (Shabu-Shabu Cuts)
- Few shakes Salt
- Few shakes Black Pepper
Instructions
Collard-Green Salad
- Discard the end stems off the collard green leaf. Then cut-out the inner-stem piece. Roll the leaves and cut into thin slices. Then dice the inner-stem into thin pieces as well.
- Cut cherry tomatoes in half.
- Make Soy Vinaigrette Dressing by mixing all of the listed ingredients
- When ready to serve, add the dressing and toss the tomatoes with collard green slices. Top it off with a sprinkle of feta cheese.
Silken Tofu Salad
- Cut and open the silken tofu along the top of the package. Carefully place it on top of a few paper towels to drain off excess water (or else your plate will be filled with tofu water later). Cut into small rounds. Place onto plate.
- Add a few spoonfuls of the Soy Vinaigrette Dressing you made earlier. Garnish with green onions.
Spicy Garlic Green Bean Stir-fry
- Trim-off both ends from the green beans. Dice garlic into thin slices. Then julienne your spring onion piece into thin slices.
- Place a frying pan on medium-high heat. Place oil in. Once hot, place the spring onion pieces in. Give it 30 seconds to start dancing in the oil. Then add in the garlic pieces. Add the green beans in. Season with a few pinches of salt. Add in the crushed dried chili pepper. Give it a stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Once you see the skin blistering on the green beans, add a splash of Yondu (it will steam the green beans). Stir-fry for 15 second more. Then plate and enjoy!
Grilled Shabu-Shabu Pork
- Place frying pan on a medium-high heat. Place in a drizzle of oil. Place pork slices in. Let it cook on one side until you see the juices from the meat pool on the surface. Then sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Flip over and cook other side. Plate and enjoy!
Franziska says
Hi π
I really like your diet recipes and I tried a few of them already.
However, I have a question for this part of the diet plate: Spicy Garlic Green Bean Stir-fry.
When I fry the beans in the pan and then add the stock it takes much longer than 15 seconds to cook the beans. After I add the beans to the pan it usually takes 10 to 15 minutes to finish. How can you finish cooking the beans so fast?
Greeting from Germany π
Dan-yul says
Sure! I like to get than pan very hot when stir-frying. Then once it starts to blister, I add in a splash of water. The water will mix with the hot oil - and release a lot of steam quickly. That steam will cook the beans through.