Seaweed Banchan - 3 Types of Korean Banchan Dishes

Seaweed Banchan. In Korea, seaweed is a regular part of our diet. We regularly eat seasoned seaweed crisps with white rice. Or eat seaweed salad as banchan. And it is even customary to eat seaweed soup on our birthdays!

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I share some of these delicious Korean seaweed banchans with you. After all, seaweed is recognized as a superfood. It is great for weight-loss, dietary fiber and filled with omega-3 fatty acids. I will skip the long list of nutritional benefits as you can find that information on Google.

Instead, I rank some of my favorite seaweed banchans - starting with my favorite

#1: Seasoned Gim (Korean seaweed crisps - toasted & seasoned)

• If you are trying seaweed for the first time, try this first. Easy to find at Costco.
• The sheets are crunchy and flaky - like biting into a potato chip. The flavor is well balanced with sesame oil and salt. These sheets are very addictive 😉

#2: Raw Seaweed & Cho-gochujang Sauce

• Raw seaweed does not really have much of a taste - its all about the chewing texture of the seaweed
• The cho-gochujang sauce will provide much of the flavor - spicy, tangy and slightly-sweet

#3 - Seaweed & Cucumber Salad

• The salad is usely made by rehydrating dried seaweed. So it has more of a chew - but still tasty.
• The vinegar-based soy dressing makes the salad taste tart and tangy. Like a light vinaigrette sauce.

#4 - Unseasoned Gim (Korean seaweed crisps - untoasted & unseasoned)

• This version has the most pronounced "seaweed" taste. It is dried, so the flavors become sharper. The sheets are unseasoned and untoasted, so you get the natural flavors.
• These sheets taste best when eaten with flavored soy sauce - like the dallae recipe below.

Korean Seaweed Banchan - 3 Types

Seaweed is a superfood that is rich in minerals, calcium and vitamins. But it also one of the most under-utilized vegetable in the world. Here are a few ways to eat them - Korean style!

4 from 2 votes

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Course: Easy

Servings: 1 people

Ingredients

Gim with Dallae Dipping Sauce

• Dallae Korean wild chives - Quarter-sized bundle
• Soy sauce - ½ cup
• Minced garlic - 1 Tablespoon
• Gochugaru Korean red chili flakes - 1 Tablespoon
• Sesame oil - 1 Tablespoon
• Water - 2 Tablespoons
• Honey - 1 Tablespoon
• Sesame Seeds - 2 Tablespoons

Seaweed and Cucumber Salad

• Dried Seaweed - Forearm sized-piece
• Cucumber - ⅔ of your forearm sized-piece
• Salt - 1 teaspoon
• Vinegar - 1.5 Tablespoon
• Soy sauce - 1 Tablepsoon
• Sugar - 2 teaspoon
• Sesame seeds - 1 teaspoon

Fresh Seaweed with Chogochujang-Sauce

• Fresh Seaweed Sea Mustard - Amount up to you
• Cho-gochujang Sauce - Amount up to you

Instructions

Gim with Dallae Dipping Sauce

• Use scissors and cut gim sheets in half. Then cut each half into 3 sections. You will end up with rectangle pieces. 
• Fill a mixing bowl with cold water. Soak the dallae into the water to get rid of dirt and impurities.
• Peel the outer skin off the onion bulbs on the dallae. Then also pluck-off the brown tips from each bulb as well. Do that for each stalk. Then rinse under cold water.
• Gently smash down on each of the small bulbs with your knife - helps release the flavor of the dallae. Then chop them up into small pieces. 
• Take out a mixing bowl. Place in soy sauce, minced garlic, gochugaru, sesame oil, water, honey and sesame seeds. Mix thoroughly. Then mix in the dallae pieces as well. You're finished!
• Put some hot rice into each gim sheet. Then top it off with a small spoonful of the dallae sauce.

Seaweed and Cucumber Salad

• Fill a mixing bowl with cold water. Place in dried seaweed. Let it soak for 10 minutes.
• Cut cucumbers into thin slices. Then place them in another mixing bowl. Put in some salt. Let the cucumbers sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the cucumbers should bend easily without snapping.
• After 10 minutes, strain the seaweed and give it a wash under cold water. Same thing for the cucumber - wash them under cold water to get rid of all the salt. Put both of them in a strainer and let them drip-off excess water
• Use your hands and squeeze the water out of both the seaweed and the cucumber. Then chop the seaweed into bite-sized pieces with a knife. Place the seaweed into a mixing bowl and de-tangle them. Then add in the cucumber pieces.
• Make the salad dressing: Mix vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and sesame seeds
• Pour dressing over seaweed and cucumber pieces. Toss it gently with your hands. It's ready to eat!

Raw seaweed with cho-gochujang sauce

• Fill a pot with water. Bring up to boil.
• Place seaweed in. It will immediately turn green. Strain it and rinse the seaweed under cold running water. 
• Place the large green seaweed onto cutting board. Use a knife to cut out the middle stem. Then chop the seaweed into bite-sized pieces. You can also cut the stem into bite sized pieces as well.
• Pour cho-gochujang sauce into a plate.
• Dip seaweed pieces into spicy sauce... and enjoy!

Notes

• Dallae may be hard to find in your area - simply substitute with regular chives. 
• You can also make your own cho-gochujang sauce at home. Mix a ¼ cup of gochujang, vinegar, and sugar together - equal parts. 
• See video below for more details

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