Korean Assorted Lettuce Wraps

We love Korean food in this household, and Korean BBQ do-it-yourself wraps have been an occasional meal of choice for weekends. Now that summer is finally here, these mouthwatering packages of grilled seasoned meats- often any kind of well-marbled beef and lean pork belly, a bit of steamed rice, garlic and jalapeno slices, with a helping of savoury tangy onion mixture served with sesame oil dominate our cravings! Ssam (쌈) means “wrapped” in Korean. Ssambap (쌈밥) means rice wrapped in lettuce or other veggies with some other protein such as fish, bulgogi, kalbi, etc. Typically, the popular lettuce type used for wrapping is red lettuce leaf. I also throw in perilla leaves for a second variety. When I came across these beautifully arranged packages of assorted leaves displayed in the fresh meat aisle in the Galleria Korean supermarket, I was estatic! They were absolutely gorgeous and I was hungry to serve them at the next round of Korean bbqing.

That's seven varieties of leaves! 

Some leaves were crunchy, while others tender, but their natural tastes subdued when the layered ingredients of complex flavours were encased. My kids didn't protest at the selection. It's a great way to engage them in new varieties of different colours and textures with foods they love already!