‘Ssam-bap’ (leaf-wrapped rice) Tops Delivery App Searches — Try Making It at Home?
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
Ssam-bap, rice and fillings wrapped in leafy vegetables, has recently surged in delivery and pickup searches in Korea. Though it can be time-consuming to prepare, ssam-bap is versatile and visually appealing: common wrappers include lettuce and perilla leaves, but alternatives such as napa cabbage, boiled chard (geundae), or pickled leaves are used too. Fillings range from seasoned pork (jeyuk bokkeum) and bulgogi to seafood, and rice can be mixed with multigrains. The article provides several recipes and variations — for example, a shepherd’s-purse-and-shrimp ssam-bap with anchovy-based ssamjang (spicy dipping paste), five-grain rice rolled in pickled perilla leaves, radish-green (siraegi) and radicchio wraps with miso-like sauce, and nutty ssamjang with job’s-tears (yulmu) rice and bamboo shoots. Preparation steps include cooking and seasoning rice, blanching or preparing various leaves and greens, making different ssamjangs (dipping pastes), and assembling bite-sized wraps. The piece highlights ssam-bap’s adaptability to healthful ingredients and creative toppings, encouraging readers to explore making their own.
