Crisp Korean Beef Salad With Citron Tea Dressing
How do you like a plate of this crisp Korean beef salad for lunch? And it is especially good for you during the flu season?
It is a wonderful season to catch a cold these days. You know that I am not asking you to get sick, right? I mean most people I know have suffered from cold or flu, some with very nasty ones, this past week or so.
So I am going to introduce you a typical home remedy that Koreans, at least in my household, use when we get sick from those mean viruses.
Citron Tea (Yuja Cha)
This is a jarred citron tea (Yuja cha, 유자차), somewhat similar to marmalade. In other parts of Asia, they call it Yuju. It basically is sliced citron fruits (Yuja) in honey/sugar mass, extracting all the juices from the fruits.
Whenever my poor husband, whom I mostly abandon these days, gets sick, he asks for this tea. It soothes sore throat, plus it tastes awesome. Another similar citrus fruit tea in Korea is called Korean lemon syrup. They both are a great home remedy for cold symptoms.
You can drink as tea by just adding 1/2 cup of hot water to 1 Tbsp of this golden glory. Or you can follow my recipe to make one of a kind crisp Korean beef salad with citron tea dressing.
Salad Ingredients
Here are your glorious ingredients. Salad greens, asparagus, cucumber, red onion, red chili, beef, soy sauce, citron tea, sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, and sesame seeds. You will also need grape seed oil and pepper.
For greens I use rockets and baby cos lettuce.
Just wash them and wrap them in a kitchen towel or cloth in the fridge to make them crisp.
Blanch the asparagus in the boiling water with some salt. Perhaps for 20 seconds…? Drain and rinse under cold water. Keep them cold as well.
Slice all your sidekicks.
How To Make Citron Tea Dressing
In a small mixing bowl, mix some citron tea and the other dressing ingredients.
Whisk them well. You will get some chunks of citron fruit and it is okay-lah!
You can prepare this ahead of time up to this point.
How To Make Crisp Korean Beef
Cut beef slices into any size you like. I like mine big.
I used very thinly sliced beef rib eye. Any Bulgogi meat would be fine.
Season with salt and pepper lightly.
Pour some Korean deep fry flour mix in a shallow bowl.
Or use corn starch instead.
Coat your beef with flour lightly.
Heat generous amount of oil in the nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Fry your beef until the edges gets crisp, about 1-2 minutes on each side.
Kind of like this… Looks like fried turkey bacon…
When done, transfer on to a plate with paper towel on it.
Now assemble your salad in your most artistic manner…
Add the crisp beef on top and drizzle your glorious dressing. Toss and dig in.
Crisp cucumber, crisp greens, crisp yet tender asparagus, and fragrant Korean citron dressing…
Aaaaah! What a wonderful life!
Crisp Korean Beef Salad With Citron Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb 220g beef rib eye, very thinly sliced and cut into bite size
- Salt and pepper to season
- 1/2 cup Korean frying mix (tempura)
- 3-4 Tbsp grape seed oil
- 1/4 lb 100g thin asparagus
- 1/2 English cucumber thinly sliced diagonally
- 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 red chili sliced, optional
- 50 g rocket
- 1/2 lb any lettuce of your choice
Korean citron dressing :
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp bottled Korean citron tea
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 Tbsp grape seed oil
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- a few dashes of freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add salt and asparagus, blanch for 20 sends. Rinse under cold water and drain. Set aside in the fridge.
- Keep all the salad greens and lettuce in the fridge to chill as well.
- Make dressing by mixing all the ingredients. Whisk well and keep in the fridge.
- Season beef slices with salt and pepper. Coat each slices with flour or corn starch.
- Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the beef slices and fry until the edges gets crisp and brown, about 1-2 minutes. Flip to the other side and continue to fry. Transfer beef slices onto a plate with paper towel on.
- Assemble your salad on a plate and place crisp beef slices on top. Drizzle the citron dressing, toss and enjoy.
I haven’t used yuzu to marinate beef before, but now I’m going to definitely try it out! Yum!
I love youzu tea and always keep one jar in my fridge. It actually is great to use for salad dressing, too.
This sounds absolutely delcious. can’t wait to give this a go. Thanks simon
I was searching for Korean Apple Cider Vinegar, then I stumble upon your blog. love recipes here, i should try.
Looks great – hope to try it out this week. Happy New Year!
I've never heard of citron tea – sounds delish. I'll definitely have to pick up a jar. And the salad? I love meat salads, and this one looks excellent. Great post – thanks.
I'm so glad you posted this recipe! I've always wondered what else you could do with that citron tea…now I've got an idea. Thanks!
Tammy Quackenbush
It can last quite long in the fridge. I am not much of tea drinker either but I love to drink this yujacha on the cold winter afternoons.
@a6366f025ddce6dd53bdcb8a1d6ccbeb
Thanks. Hope you like it.
Cindy Park
Thanks Cindy. Hope you can try some of my new recipes.
@2c7b9ad97a48429ebdf2d181a08a86ef
Ha ha ha! Yes-lah!
Wow you have picked up the "lah" from us Malaysians.
Delicious looking salad also
Yay!! You're back. I'm glad you had a great summer and I can't wait to try out some of your recipes.
I <3 to sneak yujacha in lots of my recipes, too! I'm not much of a tea drinker, except in winter, and you have to use up that large bottle somehow. 🙂
Wow, yeah that looks really awesome! I'll be trying this soon. Thanks, Renee