Sangchu-namul (Korean lettuce side dish) ｜ 상추나물 [vegetarian/vegan]

In summer, my grandma’s garden is filled with lettuce!
They grow thick stems and they’re actually so crunchy and sweet when cooked! #zerowaste cooking 🙂

This traditional Korean recipe is from my grandma 👵🏻 but it’s also very often made by monks at Korean Buddhist temples💚

Never cooked a romaine lettuce before? Well, this will be the first time, but I promise it won’t be the last!
If you don’t have any romaine lettuce at hand, other veggies such as spianch, Korean/Chinese/Napa cabbage, etc. works well too!

The dressing is so nutty, umami-filled, and combined with soft crunchy lettuce, it’s definitely going to be your go-to banchan (side dish)! Make a healthy meal with a bowl of rice and your choice of protein.

Try it for yourself! 맛있게 드세요(masitge deuseyo, meaning enjoy your meal) 🙂

Print Recipe

Korean lettuce side dish (sangchu-namul)

In summer, my grandma’s garden is filled with lettuce!They grow thick stems and they’re actually so crunchy and sweet when cooked!

This traditional recipe is from my grandma 👵🏻 but it’s also very often made by monks at Korean Buddhist temples💚

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Course: Banchan, Side Dish

Cuisine: Korean

Keyword: Banchan, Namul, Side dish

Author: Taeyeon

Ingredients

• 400 g Romaine lettuce (1 lb) 2 heads of mini-romaine
• 1 tablespoon Doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste)
• 1 tablespoon Maesil-cheong (Korean green plum syrup)
• ½ tablespoon Myeolchi-aekjeot (fish sauce) sub with Guk-ganjang (light soy sauce) for vegan ver.
• 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
• ½ tablespoon Gochugaru
• 1 teaspoon Toasted sesame seeds 

Instructions

Making the dressing

• In a salad bowl, add Doenjang, Maesil-cheong, sesame oil, fish sauce, gochugaru, sesame seeds and stir well.
  

Prep lettuce

• Cut romaine lettuce into bite size pieces and thinly slice the stem ends.
  
• Rinse it well and keep the stem ends separated.
  

Blanch lettuce

• In a pot, boil water over high heat. Once boiling, add a pinch of salt.
  
• Start by blanching the stem ends for around 1 minute.
  
• Add the rest of romaine and cook for another minute. Stir to cook evenly.
  
• Drain and shock in cold water. Squeeze out the excess water with hands.
  

Combine with dressing

• Mix thoroughly with your hands (of course, you can use chopstick, spoon, fork, whatever you're comfortable with!)
  

Enjoy! 맛있게 드세요 (masitge-deuseyo, meaning enjoy your meal)

Video