I have been married for about 3 months now and I like it. However, it is a bit different from how I imagined it as an American. As an American, I figured my wife and I would start our life together alone. It isn't quite that way in Korea because when you marry, you become part of a family. We live nearby and we are expected to share and spend time together. One of the ways my wife, my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law all get together is to eat together.

As an American living in Korea, I have had to change my cooking style and my idea of a meal. Korean food is the idea of balance of contrasts and of various ingredients and cooking techniques that should leave a person feeling like they had eaten but not a meal that feels like sinking weight in the stomach. In America, I remember that a round plate would often hold my dinner and on the plate was often a meat like roasted chicken, a starch like mashed potatoes and a vegetable like steamed peas and carrots. The meat often took up the biggest part of the plate and then I would wash this down with a glass of milk and finish my meal with a dessert like ice cream. Sound good? Sure, maybe, but this is not a meal I could serve my mother-in-law. She would leave the table hungry and she would be questioning my upbringing and health. (Don't make your mother-in-law think you are unhealthy because healthy food in Korea often tastes quite bitter.)
A Korean meal needs vegetables, rice, soup, some meat, and something fermented. Instead of having one round plate, a Korean meal needs many different bowls. As confusing as this sounds, there is actually a method to the madness. If you have rice, you need a soup. Rice is also plain in taste so you'll need kimchi, marinated and grilled meats. It is important to have fresh greens and blanched vegetables as well. Meat is not the most important thing here instead the focus is on the whole meal.

I have had to change my way of cooking to create this sort of balance. For example, if I am making a grilled salmon dinner. I will make a pickled onion salad, some blanched bok choy cabbage that is seasoned with just salt and sesame oil, I'll make a soy bean and tofu soup, and I'll put out some fresh carrot and celery sticks with ssamjang sauce. Oh, and I'll borrow some kimchi from my mother-in-law. If I am feeling ambitious, I may cut some watermelon.

If I am making a beef bulgogi dish, I'll make some mushroom japchae, make spinach banchan, a spicy turnip banchan and I'll blanch some mushrooms seasoned with sesame oil and salt. Kimchi is also important here as well. Dessert could be a scorched rice and hot water that is like a tea.
If I am making a noodle dish, I will prepare a salad and pickles. I might put chili sauce on the noodles and a hard boiled egg.

Sure, kimchi is important but it is the idea behind it. A Korean meal should have something fermented. Koreans believe that eating in this fashion will help the body digest the food better and get the optimal amount of nutrients. Korean food is about have a balanced array of dishes.
The simplest and healthiest meal that I often make for my family is the following: a fried egg, a bowl of cooked brown rice, cucumbers and carrots, roasted seaweed and a bowl of kimchi. Here you get everything your body needs.

Other meals that I have made that have been popular. Keep in mind that my focus is more on veggies. I have made Vietnamese rice paper rolls with a large array of chopped veggies and crab and egg. Also, I have done make your own kimbap with seaweed, avocado, shrimp, tomatoes, salsa and more.