How To Eat Korean Food While On A Keto Diet
A heightened interest in Korean dramas, pop music, and movies has led to the growing popularity of Korean food all over the world. Thanks to the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, everyone has become familiar with Ram-Don, which is a noodle dish with steak. Meanwhile, jajangmyeon, a black bean noodle dish, gained worldwide attention after BTS talked about an incident involving the dish in The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. Since noodles, ramen and rice are staples in Korean cuisine, people who love Korean food but are on a keto diet may find that sticking to their eating plan can be a challenge. However, by becoming familiar with certain ingredients and dishes, you can enjoy your favorite Korean dishes while on a low-carb diet. Here’s how to do it.
Replace the starch
Going keto means going on a high-protein, low carb, and low sugar diet to reduce body fat and have a lean body. This type of eating plan has gained popularity over the years, since it has been proven to aid weight loss, reduce blood sugar levels, and reduce the risks of certain types of cancer. The main thing about following this diet is avoiding carbs or starch at all cost. Since Koreans typically eat their meals with some form of starch, the first thing you’ll need to do is to find healthy replacements for rice, noodles, pasta and bread to reduce your carb and sugar intake. Try making cauliflower or zucchini rice, which are staples in family-friendly zero carb meals – something many people following a keto plan are looking for in order to navigate family meal times. You can also make stir-fried tofu, or use noodles made from tofu to make a butter or a cream-based pasta dish. You may also consider eating shirataki rice, which is shirataki noodles cut into pieces to resemble conventional rice. Add it into soups or make fried “rice” with it, and top with a fried egg for a quick low carb meal.
Load up on Korean barbeque
If you’re a fan of Korean barbeque, you’re in luck. Most meats and seafood are keto-friendly, as long as you don’t marinate them in sauces or ingredients that contain carbs or sugar. You can load up on pork belly or samgyupsal, beef, short ribs, sirloin, chicken, and shrimp, as long as you only season them with salt and pepper prior to grilling. For added flavor, you can brush some butter on the grill before placing the meat on it, and brush some more butter over the meat and seafood while they’re cooking. If you like making ssam or lettuce wraps while eating Korean barbeque, you can use lettuce leaves to wrap the meat and have it with a little garlic, but don’t eat it with dipping sauce, as this may contain sugars that can kick you out of ketosis.
Choose low carb side dishes
Some traditional side dishes, such as kimchi, contains very few carbs, and you won’t get kicked out of ketosis if you eat it every now and then. Although this side dish contains probiotics that can benefit you while you’re on a ketogenic diet, some branded kimchi contains ingredients that are rich in carbs, starch and sugar. Eat homemade kimchi whenever possible so you’ll know that what you’re having is mostly made of low-carb ingredients. Make sure to avoid other starchy side dishes such as gamja jorim, also known as glazed baby potatoes, or jeon, which are vegetable pancakes. You may also want to skip gochujang, which is one of Korea’s most famous condiments, since this chili sauce contains sugar and wheat.
Going on a keto diet can benefit your health and wellbeing. Consider these tips to stick to a low-carb eating plan while enjoying Korean food, and remember to consult your doctor first before going keto to see if this diet plan is right for you.
