Korean salad (again)

Korean salad by kattebelletje.

Outside the weather is cold. But I have been eating this crunchy salad for two days in a row now. I had it a year ago in on a cold night in Beijing, when we had dinner in a Korean BBQ restaurant, and the taste has lingered in my mind since then. The ingredients don't look very spectacular, but the sweet and sour crunchiness makes it irresistible, especially with some scattered peanuts on top (I love peanuts!) The salad is a great accompaniment to a meal with grilled fish or meat, or perhaps even a simple plate of jiaozi (Chinese dumplings).


After studying the blurry picture I made of the salad in Beijing, I tried to figure out what vegetables were in there. I added almost everything I saw, except the red cabbage (which, I guess, was blanched). This time, I used:

• one crop of little gem lettucce
• half a cucumber
• 10 red radishes
• 3 leaves of pointy cabbage
• the leaves of the radishes (optional)
• one spring onion
• some cilantro
• two handfuls of raw peanuts.

Make a vinaigrette (or aigre doux) of half a cup of a light flavoured vinegar, like the Japanese Mizkan brand, and 4 or 5 tablespoons of white sugar. Put in a small saucepan and heat slowly to let the sugar dissolve. Let cool. Add some grated ginger, just half a centimeter, and half a clove of grated garlic. Cut the spring onion into small chunks. Season the vinaigrette with a tablespoon of salt and a couple of drops of sesame oil. Take a salad bowl and add the vinaigrette, add cucumber slices, halved radishes. Now tear the salad leaves in chunks and add them. I cut the cabbage in square pieces and blanched them, but I guess you can have it without blanching- I will try this the next time.

Cut the other green leaves and add it to the salad, stir to combine. Let the flavours mingle for 20 minutes (the red color of the radishes will color the vinaigrette a beautiful pink). Add chopped cilantro. Fry the peanuts in some hot oil (careful not to burn them) and drain on kitchen paper. When cooled, add to the salad, get your chopsticks out and munch away! I am sure you can't stop until the plate is clean!