Korean Ground Beef and Rice Lettuce Wraps Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the Korean lettuce wrap called? ›

SSAM, literally meaning “wrapped,” refers to a dish in Korean cuisine in which usually leafy vegetables such as lettuce are used to wrap a piece of Korean Barbecue.

Ssambap are Korean lettuce wraps made of boldly-flavored seasoned meat, rice, a zingy sauce called ssamjang, and crisp vegetables. Ssam means "wrap" in Korean, and bap means "rice." Besides the rice and the wrap (lettuce most of the time), many variations exist when it comes to the filling of this tasty pocket.

Various vegetables are used as ingredients such as lettuce, cabbage, bean leaves, and pumpkin leaves, which are used either raw or blanched. Seaweed such as miyeok (미역) (sea mustard seaweed) and gim (dried laver) are also used.

Some will argue that you have to use red leaf lettuce but I think red leaf, green leaf, romaine or Bibb lettuce all works. If you have perilla leaves (pictured above) that you can lay into the lettuce first, that's probably the most authentic Korean way to eat ssam.

Smoother butterhead lettuce leaves are ideal for wrapping as they're super flexible and wide enough wrap around and keep all the toppings inside. Butterhead lettuce is the key to loading up our peanut-sesame chicken lettuce wraps, caramelized tofu lettuce wraps, and our basil avocado shrimp salad wraps.

Several types of wild greens, known collectively as chwinamul (such as Aster scaber), are a popular dish, and other wild vegetables such as bracken fern shoots (gosari) or Korean bellflower root (doraji) are also harvested and eaten in season.

The great thing about lettuce wraps is that they are easily modifiable when it comes to the filling and the wrapping. Cabbage leaves would also be a yummy substitute.

Juicy chicken, shiitake mushrooms, and water chestnuts combined in a killer Chinese sauce, nestled in a lettuce leaf and garnished with fried rice noodles.

Try to avoid too many wet ingredients, such as an excess of dressing or sauce. If possible, you want to use fewer wet ingredients because moisture can eventually make your wrap soggy and fall apart. If you're not eating it right away, wrap it in foil. Foil is strong enough to help the wrap hold its shape.

This easy chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe is made with ground chicken (or turkey), fresh chopped vegetables and a delicious Asian stir-fry sauce, served in a cold and crisp lettuce leaf. We enjoy these as an appetizer or main dish!

What's the best thing to wrap lettuce in? ›

Roll Up Romaine in Foil

It can keep romaine lettuce crisp for as long as 30 days. Simply wrap individual heads or hearts tightly in aluminum foil. Remove as many crispy leaves as you need for a recipe, and re-bundle the remaining lettuce.