~paired with

Origin

"But now, with a side of X" (근데 이제 ○○를 곁들인) comes from the way chef Choi Kang-rok introduced his dishes on MasterChef Korea 2, the Olive TV cooking competition, in 2013. In the segment where contestants name the plate they are presenting to the judges, he said: "The title will be gochujang-braised chicken wings — but now, with a side of basil." Calling a dish's name its "title," then tacking the secondary ingredient on afterward in an inverted clause, produced the cadence people still imitate.

The awkward word order is the joke. The structure nails down the main point first and lets the secondary detail trail behind, so whatever you append still parses. Online, this manner of speech as a whole is called "Human Kangrok-che." Choi went on to win that season, and his speech patterns were talked about from the moment it aired.

Spread

After a decade of scattered cult use, the construction surged again in 2024 when Choi appeared on Netflix's Culinary Class Wars. Netflix Korea titled the clip of his duel "The ingredient will be perilla oil — but now, with a side of Choi Kang-rok and Seungwoo Appa," so the phrasing was doing promotional work for the show itself. It circulated as a pair with "It's me, perilla oil," which came out of the same broadcast.

Choi still uses it himself. Compilations of his Instagram posts ending in "but now, with a side of —" have been passed around Korean communities.

How it's used

It attaches to the end of a sentence that has already finished — the trailing, afterthought position is the whole point. The less the appended item belongs, the better it lands.

Adding a twist to the title of a post or video — "a travel diary, but now with a side of overtime"
Describing a menu or combination — "ramyeon, but now with a side of cheese"
Attaching an inconvenient detail to the main news — "I'm quitting. But now, with a side of a mortgage"
In its original form — "The title will be X. But now, with a side of Y"