[Photo and video by Park Sae-jin / food styling by Jeong Goo-jeong ]
"Ssambap", which means wrapped rice balls in Korean, is an all-around dish, great as an appetizer or as the main menu for vegetarian lunch boxes.
The sauce used for Ssambap can be made by mixing Doenjang ( Korea's traditional bean sauce), Gochujang (red hot chili paste) and diced vegetables.
Cabbage and Kale are mainly used for wrapping the rice balls. Other vegetable leaves such as celery, lettuce, and spinach are also usable. Blanching is not necessary.
Ingredients
- Large cabbage leaves
- Kale
- Two tablespoons of Doenjang
- A tablespoon of Gochujang
- Two tablespoons sesame oil (one each for rice balls and Ssamjang sauce)
- A tablespoon of honey or sugar
- A teaspoon of sesame seeds
- A bowl of cooked short grain rice
- Two cloves of garlic
- A white part of spring onion
- 1/4 cup of water
- red and green chili peppers
Cooking directions
- Blanch cabbage and kale leaf for approximately 10~15 seconds.
- remove cabbage and kale from heat, into a bowl full of cold water
- Chop Green chili (or red chili) into lengths of about 2cm
- Remove stem and seeds from chili peppers
- Dice spring onion, garlic, and chili peppers into small pieces
- Put diced ingredients into a bowl
- Add two tablespoons of Doenjang
- Add a tablespoon of Gochujang
- Add a tablespoon of sesame oil
- Add a tablespoon of honey or sugar
- Mix well
- Sauté the mixed ingredients
- When the mix comes to a boil, add 1/4 cup of water
- Continue to sauté the ingredients for one more minute
- Remove finished Ssamjang sauce from heat
- Put rice into a bowl, add a pinch of salt, a table of sesame oil, and mix well
- Make rice balls in a size of 3~4cm diameter. For cabbage, make rice balls of 6~7cm in length
- Spread 1/2 teaspoon of Ssamjang sauce onto kale, add a rice ball
- Wrap rice ball with kale leaf.
- Wrap rice ball with cabbage. Cut into halves
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of Ssamjang sauce onto the top of cabbage wraps
- Garnish with diced chili peppers
Serving directions
- Serve warm or cold
Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
Food Stylized by Jeong Goo-jeong
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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