Chef Jeong-sun
Baechu-geotjeori (Fresh Napa Cabbage Salad)
Fresh napa cabbage tossed with chili and fermented anchovy sauce, made for the hour when winter kimchi has gone too sour and the table needs something bright.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Pa-muchim (Spicy Scallion Salad)
Created by
Long shreds of scallion dressed at the last moment with chili, vinegar, soy, and sesame, made to cut through grilled pork belly without burying the onion's clean bite.
Salads
Korean
BBQ
Quick Meal
20 min
Active Time
0 min cook•20 min total
Yield4 servings as banchan
Pa-muchim lives or dies by the knife. People think the dressing is the dish because it is red, but the dressing is only holding the scallions in place. Cut the whites too thick and they shout. Cut them long and fine, soak them briefly, dry them well, and they become the cool, sharp thing grilled pork needs beside it.
At a Korean barbecue table, this bowl is not decoration. It sits next to samgyeopsal (pork belly), galbi (short ribs), or bulgogi, and it does the work that lettuce alone cannot do: it wakes the mouth after fat and smoke. Do not bury it under gochujang. Use gochugaru for color and warmth, vinegar for brightness, soy for salt, and sesame oil only enough to gloss the strands.
Notebook 41 says 180 grams scallions to 1 1/2 tablespoons gochugaru. That is the balance I trust for a home table of four. 손맛 is real. I still measure it, so it can be handed on. Tonight this dish asks for twenty careful minutes, a sharp knife, and the discipline to dress it only when everyone is ready to eat.
Pa-muchim, also called pajeori in many barbecue restaurants, belongs to the modern Korean grill table, where raw scallion salad became a standard foil for fatty pork belly and marinated beef. Its seasonings come from the everyday muchim family of dressed vegetables, but its restaurant life grew especially visible with the spread of samgyeopsal houses in late twentieth-century Korea. The dish is ordinary, quick, and highly regional in small ways: some homes use soy and vinegar, some add maesil-cheong, and some keep it nearly dry with gochugaru and sesame.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large scallions
Quantity
8, about 180g
roots trimmed
cold water
Quantity
4 cups
rice vinegar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
for soaking
gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
Quantity
1 1/2 tablespoons
soy sauce
Quantity
1 tablespoon
rice vinegar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
toasted sesame oil
Quantity
2 teaspoons
maesil-cheong (Korean green plum syrup)
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons
or 1 teaspoon sugar
toasted sesame seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove
finely grated
fine sea salt (optional)
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large scallionsroots trimmed | 8, about 180g |
| cold water | 4 cups |
| rice vinegarfor soaking | 1 teaspoon |
| gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) | 1 1/2 tablespoons |
| soy sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| rice vinegar | 1 tablespoon |
| toasted sesame oil | 2 teaspoons |
| maesil-cheong (Korean green plum syrup)or 1 teaspoon sugar | 1 1/2 teaspoons |
| toasted sesame seeds | 1 teaspoon |
| garlicfinely grated | 1 small clove |
| fine sea salt (optional) | 1/4 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp chef's knife or scallion shredder
- •Medium mixing bowl
- •Salad spinner or clean kitchen towel
Instructions
- 1
Shred the scallions
Cut the scallions into 3-inch lengths. Split the thick white parts lengthwise first, then slice everything into long, thin threads. The white part is the sharpest, so thin slicing matters; thick pieces bite back too hard and make the salad taste raw instead of clean.
A scallion shredder is useful, but a sharp knife is enough. Keep the lengths even so the salad lifts easily with chopsticks. - 2
Soak and crisp
Put the shredded scallions in 4 cups cold water with 1 teaspoon rice vinegar for 10 minutes. This pulls back the harsh onion bite and makes the green strips curl a little. Do not soak longer than 15 minutes, or the scallion flavor washes out.
- 3
Drain very well
Lift the scallions from the water, drain, and spin or pat them very dry. Water left on the leaves thins the dressing and turns the bottom of the bowl red and weak. Pa-muchim should be glossy, not puddled.
- 4
Mix the dressing
In a mixing bowl, stir together the gochugaru, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, maesil-cheong or sugar, sesame seeds, and grated garlic. Taste it before the scallions go in. It should be bright, lightly salty, and nutty, with sweetness only enough to round the vinegar.
- 5
Toss at the table
Add the dry scallions to the dressing and toss by hand or with chopsticks just before serving. Use a lifting motion, not squeezing, so the threads stay crisp. Taste one strand. Add the salt only if your soy sauce is mild and the salad tastes flat.
Dress this no more than 5 minutes before eating. Salt and vinegar soften scallions quickly, and the whole pleasure of this dish is the fresh snap beside fatty grilled meat.
Chef Tips
- •Choose scallions with firm white bases and fresh green tops. If the greens are limp or hollow, they will not crisp in water, and this salad has nowhere to hide that.
- •A scallion shredder saves time, but it can bruise the greens if you drag it carelessly. A knife gives cleaner threads. The safe shortcut is the tool; the unsafe shortcut is thick, uneven cutting.
- •Use gochugaru, not gochujang. Gochujang makes the salad heavy and sweet, and then the scallion stops tasting like scallion.
- •If serving with very salty grilled meat, reduce the soy sauce to 2 teaspoons and taste before adding salt. The salad should refresh the table, not compete with it.
Advance Preparation
- •The scallions can be cut and soaked up to 2 hours ahead. Drain, dry well, wrap loosely in a towel, and refrigerate until serving.
- •The dressing can be mixed up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Stir it before using, then toss with the scallions only at the last moment.
- •Leftovers are safe to eat the next day, but they will be wilted. Fold them into a quick fried rice or tuck them into a lettuce wrap instead of serving them again as salad.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 60g)
Calories
60 calories
Total Fat
3 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
380 mg
Total Carbohydrates
7 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
2 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Saengchae, Geotjeori & Fresh Muchim
Browse the full collection
Chef Jeong-sun
Bomdong-geotjeori (Spring Cabbage Salad)
The first flat cabbage of spring, torn by hand and tossed at the last minute with chili, fish sauce, garlic, and sesame so each leaf stays sweet and alive.
Chef Jeong-sun
Buchu-muchim (Garlic Chive Salad)
A fresh garlic chive muchim tossed at the last minute, sharp with soy and vinegar, lightly red with gochugaru, and made to stand beside bossam or grilled pork.
Chef Jeong-sun
Deodeok-saengchae (Spicy Lance Asiabell Root Salad)
A mountain-root salad with snap and bite: deodeok gently pounded, never shredded, then dressed in chili vinegar so its resinous sweetness still speaks clearly.