Make Traditional Korean Lettuce Wraps (2024)

FAQs

What lettuce do they use for Korean barbecue? ›

Red leaf lettuce is probably the most common in modern ssam but other lettuces, steamed or parboiled cabbage, and kaenip (also known as perilla) leaves are also are popular.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

I love to add this spicy bulgogi beef to lettuce cups and top with: Extra fresh veggies, thinly sliced carrot and spring onions (green onion), Finely diced cucumber, red bell pepper and jalapeño. The finish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and chopped toasted peanuts.

One of the most underrated aspects of Korean cuisine is ssam, the act of wrapping food in bite-sized amounts, most often with lettuce, cabbage, perilla, kale or another leafy green.

Lettuce is the perfect way create a healthy and low carb wrap. These Asian-inspired Chicken Lettuce Wraps are full of fiber and flavor. Wraps are a simple and easy lunch option that have the potential to be super healthy.

What is the best lettuce to use for lettuce wraps? You can use any type of green leafy lettuce for lettuce wraps, but popular types of lettuce include Boston bib lettuce and romaine hearts. Cabbage leaves or jicima wraps would also work great.

Place the lettuce on a serving platter – you want to use Bibb or Butter Lettuce as it has a nice cup shape and will hold the contents well. Add a scoop of rice to the center of each lettuce cup then top with a scoop of the meat mixture. Garnish with additional green onions and sesame seeds.

Some will argue that you have to use red leaf lettuce but I think red leaf, green leaf, romaine or Bibb lettuce all works. If you have perilla leaves (pictured above) that you can lay into the lettuce first, that's probably the most authentic Korean way to eat ssam.

Fresh green perilla leaves are popular in Korean cuisine. Their flavor is somewhere between that of basil and mint. We use them whole in ssam wraps and barbecue, or shredded to add a bit of minty flavor to many other dishes. We also pickle them and make perilla kimchi with them.

Transfer to a lidded container (or multiple containers, if you're sending the wraps off to school or work for meals) and refrigerate until ready to eat. The cooked filling can be made up to 2 days in advance.

Korean lettuce wraps (ssambap) is a home-style healthy Korean meal. Rice is wrapped with variety of lettuce and leaves, then topped with a fish topping sauce.

What is that black paper on Korean food? ›

on your Bibimbap? It is dried seaweed and we shred.

The leaf's surface is generally smooth and lightly textured, a feel created from the prominent veining, and some varieties are covered in a layer of velvety fuzz. The plant's stems are notably square, green, and hairy. Perilla leaves are edible raw or cooked and are renowned for their robust, musky, and minty aroma.

In Korean-style western food, perilla leaves are sometimes used to substitute basil, and the seed powder and oil is used in salad dressings as well as in dipping sauces.

The fragrant, slightly acerbic nature of perilla leaves is an acquired taste even for some Koreans – it took me years to come around to its one-of-a-kind aroma and essence. So what do perilla leaves taste like?

Kkaennip 깻잎 Fresh green perilla leaves are popular in Korean cuisine. Their flavor is somewhere between that of basil and mint. We use them whole in ssam wraps and barbecue, or shredded to add a bit of minty flavor to many other dishes.

Bojagi (보자기) translates as wrapping or covering cloth and originates from the word "bok," which means luck in Korean, while the word "bo" means happiness or fortune. It can therefore be transcribed as "the wrapping of luck." Ancient Koreans believed that wrapping objects protected good luck.