Crisp Korean Beef Salad, and a jar of citron tea

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.

 This is a jarred citron tea, somewhat similar to marmalade.
It basically is sliced citron fruits 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.

Why am I showing you this jarred tea when this post is about beef salad...?
Well, because I want you to drive to your Korean grocery store right away at this moment and buy one jar for yourself.
You can drink as tea; just add 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 it.

I am going to use this in the dressing.
So wonderful that people will think you are a 5 * chef..., ho ho ho!  :)

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.

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.

 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 beef,

Crisp greens,

Crisp cucumber,

Crisp yet tender asparagus,

and

  fragrant Korean citron dressing...

Aaaaah..., what a wonderful life!

Crisp Korean Beef Salad

makes 2 servings

1/2 lb (220g) beef rib eye, very thinly sliced and cut into bite size

Salt and pepper to season

1/2 cup Korean deep-fry flour mix or corn starch 

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

50g 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

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.

Printable recipe