Korean BBQ Salad - 3 Most Popular Types

Korean BBQ Salad - 3 Types!

All Koreans know - the key to enjoying Korean BBQ is the delicious side salads. 

That spicy, slightly-tangy salad helps to cleanse your palate in between bites of succulent beef. It makes each piece of freshly grilled beef taste like the "first bite". 

Today, I'll show you how to make the Top-3 most popular types of Korean BBQ Salads served here in Seoul. 

COOKING NOTES:

All 3 recipes below are using teaspoon measurements – it makes enough sauce for 2 people! If you want to serve 4+ people, swap out to a Tablespoon!

For K-BBQ salads, add the sauce in and toss right before you're about to eat.

You don't want the greens to wilt and release water - so don't make the salads too far in advance.

If you can't choose which recipe to go with, I recommend the second version (it's my favorite!)

In Korea, we typically do K-BBQ indoors (right on the kitchen table).

If you don't have a portable butane gas stove (like the ones used for camping) we recommend getting one. As for the K-BBQ grill, I recommend this one: Korean BBQ 4-Layered Coating Grill

(We actually stopped using the big electric grill shown in the video - as its bulky and cumbersome to clean! Even the electric component doesn't detach from the grill 🤯).

Alrighty, that's it folks! 

Tag us on IG if you make the salads at home - we love flipping through your pics in the morning!

P.s. If you're cooking (or eating alone) at home - don't get too lonely! Play our latest discussions in the background and enjoy some food-for-thought 🙉:

SALAD A: Spring Onion, Sprouts & Lettuce with Cho-Gochujang Sauce

Flavor: Spicy, Sweet and Tangy – has a liquid dressing consistency

Let me explain what cho-gochujang first.

Cho-gochujang is a popular sauce made by diluting regular gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste) with vinegar, water and sugar. In our recipe, we’ll also add a few more ingredients to make it even more tasty.

Cho-gochujang sauce is spicy, sweet and slightly tart. It's also much more "liquid-y" - making it easy to coat lettuce, green onion slices and bean sprouts together. 

SALAD A: Spring Onion, Sprouts & Lettuce with Cho-Gochujang Sauce

4 from 6 votes

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Ingredients

Fresh Ingredients

• 1 Cup Chopped Butter Lettuce
• 1 Cup Sliced Spring Onion Pieces ~2 forearm length stalks
• 1 Cup Soybean Sprouts

Cho-Gochujang Sauce

• 2 teaspoons of Gochujang
• 4 teaspoons of Vinegar
• 1.5 teaspoons of Sugar
• ⅓ teaspoon Gochugaru
• 1 teaspoon Honey
• 2 teaspoons Water
• ½ teaspoon Sesame Oil

Instructions

• This recipe produces enough for 2 people. For a family of 4, double the salad ingredients and for the sauce, use Tablespoon (rather than teaspoon).

Make Salad A

• Wash spring onion stalk (2 forearm length pieces). Use your knife to slice the stalk in half. Separate each layer and stack the layers on top of each other. Then julienne into thin strips. Fill a mixing bowl with cold water. Then let it soak for 10 minutes (it gets rid of the harsh onion flavor)
• After 10 minutes, drain via a strainer and let it drip off excess water (we don't want too much water on them).
• Next, chop lettuce into bite-sized pieces.
• Fill a pot with water. Place a large handful of the soybean sprouts into the pot. Then place onto high heat and bring to boil (without a lid). Once it starts to boil, immediately turn off the heat and drain a strainer. Then rinse under cool water.

Make Salad Sauce A

• Mix Gochujang (2 teaspoon), Vinegar (4 teaspoons), Sugar (1.5 teaspoons), Gochugaru (⅓ teaspoon), Honey (1 teaspoon), Water (2 teaspoons), Sesame Oil (½ teaspoon)

Notes

NOTE: Pour-in the salad dressing and toss the salad right before you begin to eat. If you make it too early and let it sit out, the lettuce will wilt and look unappetizing.

Tried this recipe?Tag us at @efutureneighbor with your dish!

SALAD B: Spring Onion Salad with Gochugaru Sauce

Flavor: Spicy, Savory, Bold – has a thicker consistency

Here in Seoul, this salad is the most popular type that is served at K-BBQ restaurants. That’s because it’s so simple to make make as it only requires green onion. 

By soaking in cold water, the slices lose their harsh onion flavor. And you’re left with a nice crunchy texture.

The sauce itself is a mix of soy sauce, gochugaru and other ingredients. It’s spicy, savory and slightly sweet.

They key difference is that it's thicker in consistency - like a marinade.

It sticks to the green onion pieces well – but is too thick and gloopy for chopped lettuce. So avoid adding chopped lettuce to this one!

SALAD B: Spring Onion Salad with Gochugaru Sauce

5 from 4 votes

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Ingredients

Fresh Ingredients

• 2 cups Chopped Spring Onion Slices

Gochugaru Sauce

• 2.5 teaspoons Gochugaru (Korean Red Chili Flakes)
• 3 teaspoons Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Honey
• 1 teaspoon Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
• ½ teaspoon Minced Garlic
• ½ teaspoon Sugar
• ½ teaspoon Sesame Oil

Instructions

• NOTE: This recipe produces enough for 2 people. For a family of 4, double the salad ingredients and for the sauce, use Tablespoon (rather than teaspoon).
• Wash spring onion stalk (3-4 forearm length pieces). Use your knife to slice the stalk in half. Separate each layer and stack the layers on top of each other. Then julienne into thin strips. Fill a mixing bowl with cold water. Then let it soak for 10 minutes (it gets rid of the harsh onion flavor)
• After 10 minutes, drain via a strainer and let the pieces drip off excess water (we don't want too much water on them!)
• Make salad dressing by mixing: Gochugaru (2.5 teaspoons), Soy Sauce (3 teaspoons), Honey (1 teaspoon), Vinegar (1 teaspoon), Sesame Seeds (1 teaspoon), Minced Garlic (½ teaspoon), Sugar (½ teaspoon), Sesame Oil (½ teaspoon)
• Place ½ the salad dressing in at first. Toss the salad - and add more to taste!

Notes

NOTE: Do NOT add lettuce to this salad - use only the sliced spring onions. That's because this gochujang sauce has a thick consistency and does not mix well with lettuce.

Tried this recipe?Tag us at @efutureneighbor with your dish!

Lettuce Salad with Soy-Vinaigrette Sauce (Salad C)

Flavor: Salty, Slightly-Sweet, Light – liquid consistency

If you can’t do spicy well, this is the salad for you!

The sauce is soy-sauce based - so the taste will be familiar.

We’ll dilute the salty soy sauce with vinegar and water. Then add a slight amount of sweetness with a mixture of sugar and honey. This also has a very liquid consistency like Salad A – so you can toss the chopped lettuce in it.

SALAD C: Lettuce Salad with Soy-Vinaigrette Sauce

5 from 2 votes

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Ingredients

Fresh Ingredients

• 1 cup Butter Lettuce
• 1 cup Sliced Spring Onion (~2 forearm length pieces)

Soy-Vinaigrette Sauce

• 3 teaspoons Soy Sauce
• 2.5 teaspoons Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• ½ teaspoon Honey
• 5 teaspoons Water

Instructions

• NOTE: This recipe produces enough for 2 people. For a family of 4, double the salad ingredients and for the sauce, use Tablespoon (rather than teaspoon).
• Throughly wash lettuce. Shake off excess water via a salad spinner or a pat-down dry with a few paper towels. Chop lettuce into bite-size pieces.
• Wash spring onion stalk (~2 forearm length pieces). Use your knife to slice the stalk in half. Separate each layer and stack the layers on top of each other. Then julienne into thin strips. Fill a mixing bowl with cold water. Then let it soak for 10 minutes (it gets rid of the harsh onion flavor)
• After 10 minutes, drain via a strainer and let the pieces drip off excess water (we don't want too much water on them!)
• Make Sauce by mixing: Soy Sauce (3 teaspoons), Vinegar (2.5 teaspoon), Sugar (1 teaspoon), Honey (½ teaspoon), Water (5 teaspoons).

Notes

NOTE: Pour-in the salad dressing and toss the salad right before you begin to eat. If you make it too early and let it sit out, the lettuce will wilt and look unappetizing.

Tried this recipe?Tag us at @efutureneighbor with your dish!

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