Minari is Korean water dropwort vegetable. This minari recipe makes a delightful salad to serve as a side dish or a topping for Korean BBQ. It’s a healthy Korean vegetable side dish!
When I see a very green vegetable, I can’t hide my urge to make a salad with it. A bunch of Korean minari vegetable made me to think of minari recipes. This minari salad (minari muchim, 미나리 무침), also known as Korean water dropwort salad, is one of them.
In recent months, the name “Minari” has appeared often in the media. You have probably heard about the award-winning film, “Minari“. Well, you guessed it–the movie was named after this Korean vegetable.
The film is about a young Korean immigrant family settling on a farm in Arkansas and trying to pursue their American dream. It is a heartwarming film and, if you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend that you watch it .
Naming the film “Minari” is very meaningful. Minari is a common vegetable in Korea that is known for its ability to survive, grow, and thrive even in harsh environments.
What Is Minari?
Minari is a fragrant herb-like vegetable that tends to grow in swampy areas. It is often called water celery, water parsley, or water dropwort.
As you can guess from its English names, the taste is a cross of celery and parsley. Minari is known for its resistance to disease, which makes it easy to grow as long as there’s plenty of water in the soil.
CAUTION: Although the stem and leafy parts of minari are edible, and have a great nutritional benefit, don’t eat the roots! They are toxic and should not be eaten.
Minari Salad (Minari Muchim) For Korean BBQ or Meats
You can turn minari into a delightful salad with a simple Korean chili vinaigrette. You can enjoy it as a side dish, or you can serve it as a topping for Korean BBQ.
The crunchy texture with its slightly bitter yet pleasant taste goes well with the following Korean meat dishes.
Some minari recipes call for blanching, but doing so causes the vegetable to lose some of its taste and fragrance. That makes for a milder salad, which may be appropriate for those who are not used to minari.
Serving it this way is called “minari namul,” and it is served as a side dish, but not as a topping for barbecued meats.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Wash and drain minari well using a salad spinner. Cut into 2-inch long pieces.
Slice onion very thinly.
In a large mixing bowl, combine Korean chili paste, Korean chili flakes, soy sauce, Korean anchovy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, sugar, and toasted sesame seeds; mix well.
Add minari and onion. Toss together gently with your hand so that the vinaigrette seasoning will coat the minari evenly.
Serve your minari salad as a side dish to any meal or as a topping for a lettuce meat wrap. Enjoy!
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Minari Salad (Korean Water Dropwort)
Ingredients
- 1 bunch minari (water dropwort, water parsley, or water celery) washed and drained
- 1/4 large onion thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tbsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1 tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Korean anchovy sauce (myulchi jeot)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Korean plum extract (maeshil cheong) or corn syrup
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cut minari into 2-inch long pieces.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine Korean chili paste, Korean chili flakes, soy sauce, Korean anchovy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, sugar, and toasted sesame seeds; mix well.
- Add minari and onion. Toss together gently with your hand so that the vinaigrette seasoning will coat the minari evenly.
- Serve your minari salad as a side dish to any meal or as a topping for a lettuce meat wrap. Enjoy!
SO flavourful and yummy! A perfect salad to celebrate the arrival of SPRING!
Delicious looking Salad, Holly. Looks so light and tasty!
I love learning about new ingredients and cooking methods! I wasn’t familiar with water dropwort until I read this post, Holly, but now I want to use it in a salad. I’m intrigued! I’ll have to see if we have any Korean grocery stores in town where I could find this. (We have plenty of Italian grocery stores in upstate New York – Korean might be a bit more challenging. Haha!)
You are lucky to have aplenty of Italian groceries up there. I love Italian food and always look for the best ingredients for recipes. Not everyone knows water dropwort but once you taste it, you will fall in love with this fragrant vegetable. Hope you get to try some day.
As a huge salad fan, I love learning and trying new ingredients. I have never heard of minari, so thank you for this introduction. I am not sure if I’ve ever seen this in our stores, either. However, we have a piece of swampy land around our house, so we might try growing it. Anyways, the salad looks and sounds delightful!
Minari grow anywhere as long as there’s plenty of water in the soil. If you have Korean store nearby look for the seeds on sale. They grow so easily and abundantly.
I would absolutely love to try this salad! Sounds like it packs quite the flavour! Yum!
Like many, I have been inspired by the movie to try the vegetable. Can I substitute watercress, which is more readily available, for minor?
Of course! Although watercress doesn’t have the fragrance that minari has, it still makes a great salad. Thanks.