I made this Korean/Japanese hybrid for the WBC championship game a few weeks ago. Yakitori is traditionally a Japanese dish, but these chicken skewers were marinated in a sweet garlicky bulgogi marinade, making them somewhat Korean. While the yakitori would be delicious as an appetizer or with a bowl of hot rice, I took the theme one step further and integrated the grilled chicken into the Korean version of a lettuce wrap.
Ssam (pronounced: sahm) literally means “wrapped” in Korean and is a common way to eat grilled meat. The meat is typically grilled at the table and served along with condiments such as ssamjang, raw garlic, chili peppers and plenty of lettuce leaves. Stateside, David Chang has single handedly gentrified this once humble dish at his over-hyped Momofuku Ssam Bar, where the $200 Bo Ssäm is the centerpiece at his East Village eatery.
To be fair, I’ve never eaten the bo ssam there, but the rest of his food has enough salt to disinfect a festering wound large body of water, so shelling out two Ben Franklins is a leap I just haven’t been willing to make. I guess that makes me one of the only people in Manhattan who isn’t an evangelical member of the cult of Chang.
If you haven’t noticed by the dearth of raw veggies on this site, I am not a huge salad fan. Don’t get me wrong, I love raw vegetables, but the problem with salad is that it takes some hunting to put all the elements of the salad together on the fork at the same time. Since a ssam is wrapped with the individual components evenly scattered within, each bite is like a perfect little salad. Expanding on this theme, you could do easily do a Caesar Ssam or a Chinese Chicken Ssam.
Ingredients
- 4 strips chicken boneless skinless thighs cut into
for bulgogi marinade
- 2 tablespoons asian pear grated
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon scallion minced
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
to serve
- lettuce leaves
- asian pear shredded
- gochujang (Korean hot sauce) or ssamjang (combo of and doenjang)
Steps
- Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and add the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight.
- Soak your skewers in hot water for 30 minutes. Skewer the strips of chicken lengthwise, so each skewer is roughly the same thickness. Setup a barbecue, or move your oven rack to the top position and turn on the broiler.
- Grill the chicken skewers until they are cooked through, rotating at least once.
- Serve with lettuce leaves, shredded Asian pear and gochujang. Because they don't hold together very well, it's best to have each person roll their own. Just spread some gochujang on a lettuce leaf, lay a few pieces of chicken down, top with some pear, then roll and eat.
Love the addition of the pear in the dressing as well as shredded in the filling. These little guys look fantastic, and I’m going to go out on a limb and just guess that they didn’t cost anywhere near 200 smackaroos to prepare. Am I right?! 😉
Yum! Yakitori in a vege wrap! How innovative. Definitely will give it a go. Thanks for sharing!
How funny. I’m not a huge salad fan either, preferring to get my veggies the way you’ve done it in your post — with meat! Beautiful picture, as always.
Now I am confused on what to make for dinner, I have the salmon kamas for the Miso Salmon Soup, but this looks really light and yummy for a hot day like today, hmmm…
I am always in awe of your creativity with your recipes. What a brilliant melding of Korean and Japanese features! I bet it is so tasty.
Love the addition of the pear in the dressing as well as shredded in the filling. These little guys look fantastic, and I’m going to go out on a limb and just guess that they didn’t cost anywhere near 200 smackaroos to prepare. Am I right?! 😉
Yum! Yakitori in a vege wrap! How innovative. Definitely will give it a go. Thanks for sharing!
Nice. We use to eat these Korean lettuce wraps with bulgogi, rice, and red chili paste. I like the use of Chicken and pear!
How funny. I’m not a huge salad fan either, preferring to get my veggies the way you’ve done it in your post — with meat! Beautiful picture, as always.
Now I am confused on what to make for dinner, I have the salmon kamas for the Miso Salmon Soup, but this looks really light and yummy for a hot day like today, hmmm…
Swoon….I LOVE BULGOGI. I want that sauce.
I am always in awe of your creativity with your recipes. What a brilliant melding of Korean and Japanese features! I bet it is so tasty.
Truely awesomne, simple and delicious!
Nice. We use to eat these Korean lettuce wraps with bulgogi, rice, and red chili paste. I like the use of Chicken and pear!
Swoon….I LOVE BULGOGI. I want that sauce.
WOW – I have to make these!!
Thanks to you Marc, my order of Gochujang and Tonkatsu sauce and Doenjang….and a few more things is expected to be delivered today!! I can’t wait to get cooking!
Truely awesomne, simple and delicious!
As always…another good one sir!
WOW – I have to make these!!
Thanks to you Marc, my order of Gochujang and Tonkatsu sauce and Doenjang….and a few more things is expected to be delivered today!! I can’t wait to get cooking!
As always…another good one sir!
There’s a street in Tokyo that my boyfriend and I refer to as Yakitori Alley (its name escapes us). What a great place to be. Your skewer reminds me of it.
Marc, a few posts ago you mentioned that you would have a hard time going gluten-free. I disagree! Most of your recipes fall into the “naturally gluten-free” category. All you would have to do with this recipe is use a wheat-free soy sauce and gochujang sauce and you’d be set. I think both of those are eay to find gluten-free. Not that I’m advocating for you to cut out gluten if you don’t need to – I’m just saying that your blog makes me feel like the GF diet isn’t so strange or difficult. Thanks! BTW, I’m with you and… Read more »
That marinade sounds really nice…probably good on pork too! Really loving that.
There’s a street in Tokyo that my boyfriend and I refer to as Yakitori Alley (its name escapes us). What a great place to be. Your skewer reminds me of it.
Marc, a few posts ago you mentioned that you would have a hard time going gluten-free. I disagree! Most of your recipes fall into the “naturally gluten-free” category. All you would have to do with this recipe is use a wheat-free soy sauce and gochujang sauce and you’d be set. I think both of those are eay to find gluten-free. Not that I’m advocating for you to cut out gluten if you don’t need to – I’m just saying that your blog makes me feel like the GF diet isn’t so strange or difficult. Thanks! BTW, I’m with you and… Read more »
That marinade sounds really nice…probably good on pork too! Really loving that.
I love yakitori so much, I can eat them everyday. Was having it for lunch yesterday at Gonpachi. 🙂
Thanks for explaining the meaning of Ssam, now I know what Momofuku Ssam means. 😉
I love yakitori so much, I can eat them everyday. Was having it for lunch yesterday at Gonpachi. 🙂
Thanks for explaining the meaning of Ssam, now I know what Momofuku Ssam means. 😉
Ohhh this sounds really good. Meat wrapped up with lettuce is so good- one of my favourite dishes is beef mince cooked with fish sauce, chilli, lime juice and coriander and wrapped in lettuce leaves. Love hearing about the restaurant politics of New York as well 🙂
Ohhh this sounds really good. Meat wrapped up with lettuce is so good- one of my favourite dishes is beef mince cooked with fish sauce, chilli, lime juice and coriander and wrapped in lettuce leaves. Love hearing about the restaurant politics of New York as well 🙂
FINALLY someone that isn’t a part of the David Chang cult. I’m sick of all the over-hype.
FINALLY someone that isn’t a part of the David Chang cult. I’m sick of all the over-hype.
After yesterday, I was kind of not hungry, but now I am. Tsk tsk tsk.
After yesterday, I was kind of not hungry, but now I am. Tsk tsk tsk.
nice recipe, fun take on Ssam. for more substance you could always add some white rice in there, and if sweet’s not your thing some vietnamese pickled cucumber slaw could go well too, but that might be going overboard on the asian crossover thing…!
cool site and great tips.
nice recipe, fun take on Ssam. for more substance you could always add some white rice in there, and if sweet’s not your thing some vietnamese pickled cucumber slaw could go well too, but that might be going overboard on the asian crossover thing…!
cool site and great tips.
Ahh, there’s the Asian pear. I’ve tried it as part of a marinade for kalbi. It’s wonderful how so many cultures have their skewered meats…Vive Japan!
Ahh, there’s the Asian pear. I’ve tried it as part of a marinade for kalbi. It’s wonderful how so many cultures have their skewered meats…Vive Japan!
Tried this last night. Delicious! My husband and I were practically licking our plates clean, so will double next time. 🙂
Tried this last night. Delicious! My husband and I were practically licking our plates clean, so will double next time. 🙂