Oh Yoon-ah shares Chuseok recipes with less sugar, more veggies

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Actress Oh Yoon-ah has introduced protein-rich diet recipes for Chuseok as the country celebrates the holiday, during which food plays a central role in family celebrations.

Oh recently shared recipes for "galbi-jjim," or braised short ribs, and steamed vegetables in a video posted on her YouTube channel.

The key to turning galbi-jjim, a Chuseok staple, into a diet-friendly dish lies in the ingredients used to add sweetness. Oh said she uses no sugar at all and instead adds alternative sweeteners like oligosaccharide syrup and green plum syrup. She also makes the marinade by blending pear and onion. She added that she prefers to season the dish on the salty side rather than make it particularly sweet.

Her steamed vegetable recipe was also simple and focused on nutrition. She first seasons the meat with cooking wine and salt before grilling it, then cuts her choice of vegetables diagonally and steams them before serving them with a sauce. Oh explained that cutting vegetables diagonally helps them cook thoroughly even when the pieces are large.

How much does replacing sugar with various other ingredients to add sweetness, as in Oh's recipes, actually help with health and weight management?

Blending pear and onion into a marinade is a good way to reduce sugar intake while enhancing the flavor of a dish. Pears and onions contain dietary fiber, which slows absorption compared with simple sugars, while their natural sweetness and tenderizing properties help improve the flavor and texture of meat.

Oligosaccharide syrup contains about 30 percent fewer calories than sugar and includes dietary fiber, which may benefit gut health. However, portion control is still essential. It is also sensitive to heat, making it preferable to add it toward the end of cooking.

Green plum syrup, on the other hand, requires some caution. Although it is often considered healthy, it is typically made by mixing green plums and sugar in a 1-to-1 ratio, meaning it is not much different from sugar water in practice. It also offers little benefit in terms of reducing one's calorie intake.

Oh's approach of reducing sweetness and seasoning the dish more toward the salty side can be positive in that it lowers overall sugar intake. However, if a dish becomes too salty, its flavor balance can be disrupted, and excessive sodium intake can increase the risk of high blood pressure. Care should therefore be taken not to make food excessively salty.

The protein- and vegetable-focused diet Oh emphasized is a classic approach to weight management. Protein takes longer to digest, helping promote satiety without causing a rapid rise in blood sugar. Vegetables rich in dietary fiber are also filling relative to their calorie content, helping control portion sizes.

In particular, steaming vegetables, can minimize the loss of essential nutrients such as water-soluble vitamins and minerals that can occur when they are cooked in water. Because no additional oil is used during the cooking process, the resulting dish is also very low in calories, making it suitable for weight management.

This article from Kormedi.com, Korea’s top health care and medical portal, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.