Korean Lettuce Wraps

When Chad was growing up he lived in Korea for a time. These little lettuce wraps have become one of my very favorite meals to dish on! I kept it simple this time, but you can definitely add many more sides of veggies and varieties of meats. I went with barbecue beef, radishes, spinach, cucumbers, and a little rice.

Radishes:

1 lb Daikon radish (I used regular because our store was out, but they tasted great anyway, and the color was beautiful!)
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp Korean red chili powder
Sesame seeds

Mix vinegar, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add in radish and chili powder and turn over a few times. Set aside and mix every 15 minutes or so for about an hour. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve cold.

Spinach:

1 bunch of spinach
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds for garnish
6 cups of water and 1 teaspoon salt to blanch

Heat water and salt to a boil and add in the spinach to blanch. Watch to see when it brightens and then take it out quickly. Place the spinach in an ice water bath to cool it quickly. Drain it and squeeze all the water out. Roughly chop it and place it into a bowl. Mix in all ingredients, toss, and garnish with sesame seeds.

Cucumbers:

3 English cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2 inch strips
2 TBSP salt
6-7 dried chilies
4 TBSP rice vinegar
4 TBSP sugar
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp chili oil
1 tsp salt

Place the cut cucumbers in a bowl and sprinkle the 2 TBSP salt over them, stir and let sit for about two hours. Rinse with water and drain. Using two layers of cheese cloth, squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. (I usually hold off on the rest of the salt). Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Beef:

10 lb beef, any part for grilling
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tsp pepper
2 TBSP sesame oil
2 inches piece of ginger
1 small onion

Slice beef into 3X3 inch pieces. Roughly chop onion and ginger. Put all of the ingredients into a blender except for the beef and mix well. Cover the meet in the marinade and let set overnight or up to 24 hours. Grill.

Roll them up in a lettuce leaf and enjoy! I like to layer mine with the rice on the bottom, then the meat and the veggies. YUMMM!