Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sawi Korean Style

Koreans do pickles as much as the Chinese and the Japanese. Similar yet with distinct differences. This dish is not quite a pickle, more a salad, I think. It reflects Korea's cuisine - rugged, simple, unpretentious and no fuss and frills. The good thing about this dish is it can be eaten as soon as it is prepared, no need to wait for days like the Korean kimchi.

Pickled mustard greens
300g mustard greens aka sawi aka sayur bunga
1 fresh red chilli
2 thin slices ginger, julienned
2 cloves garlics, peeled and chopped
salt
vinegar
sugar
sesame seeds, toasted
sesame oil

Wash the leaves off all grit and dirt. Use drinking water in the last rinse, drain and pat dry.
Gather in a bunch and chop them into about 1/2 cm bits.
Use about 1 teaspoon of salt, rub into the veggie until they turn deep green and sweat. Leave for about 30 minutes. 
Wash the salted sawi, drain and squeeze out as much of the moisture as possible.
Add the rest of the ingredients, adjust sugar and vinegar to suit one's taste. 
Drizzle a teaspoon of sesame oil. Mix well.
Best served chilled and with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like korean food. there is a korean restaurant near my house where I make it a point to visit at least once a month, if not oftener. I usually go for the spicy tofu dish with rice, and all the condiments. Some people think korean food is expensive but in reality, if you include the 8 to 10 side dishes which they don't charge, which you can ask for refills, its reasonable, even cheap.

Referring to the dish you made, I'm not that big on sawi in this form, but i do like the spinach variant, as it's sweeter :-)

Unknown said...

sounds delicious...i too like korean food very much..i will try it soon..in U.S. i have a hard time to find korean food products..however i explored a great resource www.myethnicworld.com where i can find all the korean food products.

a feast, everyday said...

frank, *confession* i go to korean rest mostly for their side dishes...

dawn, this dish doesn't call for any korean ingredient n if u can't find mustard green (as i guess they r harder to come by in the US) use spinach instead.