I am a huge fan of cooked lettuce. It sounds a little funny, but hear me out. I grew up eating Chinese food and salad just does not exist in traditional Chinese cuisine – lettuce is always cooked. There are no raw vegetable dishes. I’m not sure if this is because most vegetable dishes have a little bit of meat in them or if it’s a remnant of the fact that there weren’t reliable sources of running water for vegetable washing. Regardless, raw wasn’t very common. Now of course, salads are super common place everywhere, but my favourite way of eating lettuce is still when it’s slightly cooked.
Something magical happens when you cook lettuce, especially when it just starts to wilt – the edges become silky smooth, the leaves become a little bit sweeter, the core a little bit crunchier and overall, it just gets a whole lot tastier. Grilled romaine seems to be a thing these days, but I’m going to be one of those annoying “hipster” types and say it: I was into cooked lettuce WAY before it became a thing. Anyway, now that it is a thing, I wouldn’t blame you for getting into it too, but you might want to learn more about it before you start cooking every bit of lettuce you see.
Speaking of hipsters – if you’re on the lookout for the next ingredient that’s going to make a splash in the the food world, my bet is on Chinese black vinegar. It’s malty, slightly sweet, and just a little bit reminiscent of balsamic. More importantly, it’s super tasty.
This salad has everything: charred lettuce with a bit of crunch, silky seaweed, creamy medium boiled eggs, toasty croutons and an addictive dressing. I could seriously eat it everyday!
i am grilled, i am dressed: i am grilled romaine salad!
Grilled Romaine Salad Recipe with Eggs, Wakame & Black Vinegar
serves 2Dressing
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Salad
- 1/2 cup wakame (dried seaweed)
- oil
- 1 slice thick cut bread
- 1 head romaine, intact, washed, throughly dried and cut in half
- 2 eggs, soft of medium boiled, sliced in half
- black sesame seeds, to garnish
Whisk together the dressing ingredients, taste and adjust soy and vinegar if needed; set aside. Rehydrate wakame in hot water according to directions on package. While the seaweed is rehydrating, grill your croutons.
Heat a bit of oil in a non-stick skillet and grill bread on both sides until golden and crisp. Set aside. In a large frying pan, heat up a touch of oil over medium high heat. Place the romaine in the pan, cut side down and fry until slightly charred and wilted, flipping once. Remove from the heat when done.
Drain the wakame and toss with a bit of the dressing. Cut the toasted bread into large croutons. Assemble the salad by placing the grilled romaine on a large plate. Top with grilled croutons, dressed seaweed and egg halves. Drizzle on the dressing and sprinkle on a few black sesame seeds. Enjoy immediately.
“I grew up eating Chinese food and salad just does not exist in traditional Chinese cuisine – lettuce is always cooked. There are no raw vegetable dishes.”
That is just not true. I’ll grant that raw food is not the most common, but to say it doesn’t exist is just plain wrong.
Try Old Tiger Salad (老虎菜), a well-known dish from China’s north-eastern provinces. The salad consists of very thinly sliced (juilienned) green onion (spring onion), cucumber, daikon radish, carrot, perhaps some green pepper and certainly coriander leaf (cilantro). The slivers of vegetation are mixed together then served with a chilli dressing. Some versions include thinly sliced chillies in the salad, then dress with a garlicky soy, vinegar and sesame oil dressing . The strips of vegetable are supposed to resemble the stripes of the tiger.
There is also a version from Xinjiang.
Another raw vegetable dish is Sichuan’s Smacked Cucumber. This is raw cucumber marinated in a spicy dressing.
Most supermarkets have a selection of raw salads.
Just yesterday I went to lunch with a good friend here in Southern China, We were served two salad dishes, both of which contained raw lettuce.
That said, I love simple stir fried lettuce with oyster sauce.
whoops, i stand corrected! my parents aren’t from the north-eastern part of china so i think they haven’t had that dish! but..you’re absolutely right, i have had smashed cucumbers before!
i also grew up eating chinese food and my parents always serve their vegetables cooked. they said it was because raw vegetables were harder to digest. so i had always thought salad didn’t exist in traditional chinese cooking, too.
maybe raw salads are regional, or traditionally limited to certain economic classes? i would also guess that vegetables marinated in vinegar could negate the effects of indigestion.
I have never cooked or grilled lectures but I have to try out this recipe next time I do a salad. I also love its simplicity as I don’t like salad which included 20 or more ingredients.
yeah, my salads tend to be pretty simple – just cause i never have much in the fridge :P
this is a beeeeeeautiful thing!
YOU’RE beeeeeautiful!! xoxo
I need to get some black vinegar. I had a recipe that called for it the other day and just kind of had to make do without it. I also definitely need to make this salad since I had a head of romaine languishing in the fridge and I make these eggs once every few days as it is.
yes! it’s perfect for wilt-y romaine :D and YES to getting black vinegar. it’s super affordable – at least at the asian stores :)
ohmagawd i am not a salad person, but steph, you are seriously turning me into one.
also re: your prediction about chinese black vinegar being the next big thing — TOTALLY.
i thought i wasn’t a salad person either, but something strange has been happening to me….hahahahahh
I’m still yet to try grilled salad but this looks so darn good! And that runny egg!!!!!!
give it a go millie!! i’d love to see you do a grilled salad video!
Oh my gosh, Steph! This looks delicious! And where in the world did you get that plate? It looks so chic!
it’s from crate and barrel :)
YESSSS grilled lettuce!! Get on with your hipster self. Love it (and those perfectly done soft-boiled yolks….. mmph.)
i have a thing for ALL eggs :)
Never had grilled lettuce before, didn’t even know it could be grilled! I do love the addition of seaweed to it.
But. HOW has no one commented on the last shot yet? That freeze frame of black sesame seeds being tossed, suspended in motion and just almost hitting that salad = beauty. I LOVE that shot.
oooh, thank you! it warms my heart that you noticed the black sesame seeds raining down! :D