K-food guide: What to add to kimchi stew when watching your blood sugar

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Kimchi stew is one of the most common dishes on Korean tables. But for people with high blood sugar or on a diet, ingredients and seasonings used can be tricky.

Increasing low–glycemic index (GI) ingredients like onions and tofu and minimizing gochujang (red chili paste), can help. It’s also better to eat more of the solid ingredients than the broth and take a 10–30 minute walk after eating to reduce blood sugar spikes.

The effect of kimchi stew on blood sugar depends heavily on what you add to it. Common ingredients and seasonings in kimchi stew — such as green onion, garlic, and onion — can produce quite different post-meal blood sugar responses.

Green onion is a commonly preferred ingredient, deeply rooted in Korean cooking as a basic flavor enhancer. Many people feel kimchi stew tastes incomplete without it.

Garlic, even in small amounts, greatly enhances flavor and is considered essential in most households, though some dislike its strong smell.

Onion helps soften the sourness of kimchi stew and adds sweetness, but this very quality can cause division. For those who prefer a spicy, sharp taste, onion makes the stew too mild, while others value the added depth of flavor.

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Onion's notable blood sugar–stabilizing effect

From a blood sugar perspective, however, onion, tofu, and garlic can yield different outcomes. Among these, onion shows the most notable blood sugar–stabilizing effect.

Onions are classified as a low-GI food and contain quercetin, an antioxidant that helps improve insulin sensitivity. According to a 2011 study by a research team at Konkuk University published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, the quercetin in onions has beneficial effects on blood sugar control and insulin resistance. In addition, the soluble fiber in onions slows carbohydrate absorption, leading to a more gradual rise in post-meal blood sugar.

Garlic and green onion are typically used in small amounts per serving, so their actual impact on blood sugar is very low. Although garlic has a higher carbohydrate density than onion, it is not consumed in large quantities, so it does not cause a sharp rise in blood sugar — making it similar to green onion in this respect.

Tofu is also a very low-GI, protein-rich food and is effective in lowering the overall glycemic impact of kimchi stew.

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Be careful not to fill up on broth

In contrast, gochujang (Korean chili paste) can significantly raise blood sugar levels. It is a medium- to high-GI food containing a considerable amount of sugars, and even one or two spoonfuls can noticeably increase blood glucose. While chili powder itself has little effect on blood sugar, gochujang and other seasonings in the broth can cause a rapid rise. Since the broth of kimchi stew contains seasoning, sugars, and fats, consuming a lot of it can accelerate blood sugar spikes.

Improving kimchi stew for better blood sugar control is relatively simple: Increase the proportion of low-GI ingredients like onion and tofu, and minimize the use of gochujang.

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.