Christmas Dinner with a Korean Twist
I know Thanksgiving feels like it was just yesterday! Hopefully all the turkey leftovers are long gone!
Because Christmas is right around the corner! Eek, I know!
I bet your social calendar is just as booked as mine. Between holidays parties for work and holiday get-togethers with friends and family, there’s hardly a moment to take a breath!
There’s still so much to do! Shopping, decorating, finding holiday outfits….Ack!
It’s going to be okay!
I’ve made Christmas dinner easy for you so you can at least get that out of the way!
That way, there’s time to take that breath and enjoy the holiday season instead of feeling rundown and easily agitated.
Here’s the Christmas Dinner with a Korean Twist printable menu!
So here’s an easy Christmas dinner with a Korean twist, of course, to help get planning. Just as with the Thanksgiving menu, I noted what you can make in advance. It’s actually the majority of the dishes!
Christmas Dinner with a Korean Twist Menu
The following you have to make the day of;
- Sweet and Spicy Potsticker Salad – This is yet another great recipe from Sue at MyKoreanKitchen.com. I refer to her recipes if I can’t get one from one of my aunts in Korea. This is easy and a great way to get some salad into the meal. (I’m always trying to find ways to trick my family into eating salad.)
- Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Short Ribs – These Korean BBQ short ribs are quite popular in my house thanks for Chungah at Damndelicious.net But what makes this recipe popular with me, is that it uses the slow cooker. I love slow cooker recipes! Don’t you? You’re letting the slow cooker do all the heavy lifting. It’s awesome! Set it and forget! Now you have more time to bake cookies, wrap presents, clean house, or any of the million other things on your list.
The following you can make ahead of time;
- Korean Glass Noodles (Japchae) – I know this was on the Thanksgiving menu as well. But it just isn’t a holiday without japchae! JinJoo at Kimchimari.com makes it a one pan dish and simplifies japchae as much as possible without sacrificing anything.
- Spicy Scallion Salad – This light and refreshing side salad cuts the grease and heaviness of the short ribs perfectly. (Sidenote: When I was a kid, I totally thought it was a grass salad. This recipe from Hyosun at Koreanbapsang.com is perfect and not grassy at all! 😉
- Christmas cake – The Squishy Monster over at Squishymonster.com calls this a Korean Cream (Birthday) Cake but I think the red and white colors lend itself to Christmas perfectly. Plus, it’s so delicious that you can have it any time.
A Romantic Christmas
If you noticed, the menu isn’t very large. It’s really meant for about four people, at most. However, if you’re expecting more people, than make more for each or add things or both!
How many times have you made so much food that it didn’t even look like a dent was made? I’d say every…single…year!
So this menu is more in line with how Christmas is celebrated in Korea. Because in Korea, Christmas is more of a romantic holiday than a huge family gathering.
You can owe it to only 1/3 of the population being Christians and/or that they just did the big family gathering during Chuseok.
So for them, Christmas isn’t all the family getting together and everyone exchanging gifts. It’s more about lovey-doveyness and partying. Shoot, I should’ve added soju to the menu! Next time! 😉
Now that the menu is out of the way, how about chipping away at the shopping list? Here are some gift guides to help!
Are you celebrating traditional Christmas style or romantic Korean Christmas style? Share in the comments!