Apple Onion Celery Salad – Korean Style
This Apple Onion Celery salad is creamy, slightly sweet, tangy and oniony which goes really well with any Korean meal as banchan and especially well with Korean BBQ meats. It does not have an official Korean name because this is my creation.
I did get the idea from a local restaurant that serves this but they don’t have celery in it and I think my dressing tastes better. So next time you have a Korean BBQ, make this creamy apple onion salad or make my Korean potato salad. You can find recipe for potato salad in my Tips for Korean BBQ party post.
But first things first…
Hi!!! Did you miss me?? 😉 Did you maybe, just maybe.. wonder – did something happen to me?? Or did you not miss me at all?? 😜 Well, bless you if you missed me. 🙂 I’m doing very well, thank you.
Nothing happened really.. I was just really really busy. Partly because my mom came to stay with me from Korea, for the summer and we celebrated my birthday together. My good husband went all out for my birthday (I’m sure my mom visiting had something to do with it, because we usually don’t go on trips on my birthday..haha) and he planned my dream vacation to Carmel Valley Ranch!! I posted a few pics on my Facebook of our trip some time ago so check that out if you want to see some pictures. It is my “dream” vacation because it has a farm, a stable, a spa, a vineyard, chickens, bee hives and also a golf course (this is actually more of a dream for my husband more than me but..). Aside from the lovely scenery, there was also a resident farmer that I could visit with and ask my hundred questions to. Oh, what a lovely trip it was.
Aside from that, I was just really busy. I worked hard to complete a Korean recipe development project that I took on in July. This project was developing 20+ Korean + Korean fusion recipes in 7 weeks. I thought I gave myself enough time but as things usually go in life, I ended up spending a lot more time than I expected and so I was not able to find time to work on my blog posts.
But I had a lot of fun (well, at least 90% of the time – not the clean up part) and learned a LOT which was really fabulous. Because many recipes were marinades for various meats, towards the end, I got really sick of tasting meat – morning, day and night. I don’t know how professional chefs do it. There were times when all I wanted to eat was just Kimchi and rice or just anything that was not Korean. Now, what is NOT so fabulous is that I got FAT from tasting all the different recipes. I think my husband also gained weight too. There was one night when I was testing 4 different Spicy Chicken Bulgogi recipes on my husband and by the time I got the recipe right, my poor husband told me that he was just too full to eat the actual good version… 😭 … Sad..sad..
Anyway, I just delivered all the recipes couple days ago and now I am ready to get back to blogging Korean recipes!!!
Because my client was gracious enough to let me share the recipes with my readers, you will be seeing some new recipes that are a easy and restaurantified (is that a word??) which means it will be very accurate and also delicious. I am REALLY excited about that.
So.. which Korean recipe do I post first? Hmm…I had a lot of extra Gravenstein apples from my tree in the back yard so I decided to share this Apple Onion Celery Salad first. I know Gravenstein apples are not always available at the markets so just use any sweet and crunchy apples like Fuji and Honey Crisp. This Apple Onion Celery salad recipe is also one of the easiest one I have which also means I can make a quick post.
Servings 4-6 Cooking Time: 10 min Difficulty: Easy
- Slice apples, celery and onions into thin slices.
Ingredients for Apple Onion Celery salad with creamy dressing - Make dressing by whisking salt, mayonnaise, vinegar, yogurt, sugar and lemon juice.
- Toss and mix apples, onions and celery with the dressing.
Apple Onion Celery Salad with Creamy Dressing - Refrigerate and serve cold.
Korean Apple Onion Celery Salad with Mayo Dressing
Tips
- Do not store this salad longer than 2 days because the onion flavor starts to seep into the dressing and starts to dominate the salad.
- Because many Korean dishes are spicy and bold flavored, having a creamy salad like this really balances the flavors.
Apple Onion Celery Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Fuji Apple or other sweet (crunchy apples like honey crisp)
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 2 stalks celery
Dressing
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt (Trader Joe's)
- 5 Tbsp Mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar
- 2 Tbsp plain non-fat yogurt (unsweetened)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Slice apples, celery and onions into thin slices.
- Make dressing by whisking salt, mayonnaise, vinegar, yogurt, sugar and lemon juice.
- Toss and mix apples, onions and celery with the dressing.
- Refrigerate and serve cold.
I’m allergic to milk. Could I substitute the yoghurt with something else? More mayo?
Hmm.. you could try yogurt made with soy milk or silken tofu. Or you could just to more mayo, a little water with some lemon juice.
Ooh, ordering some Korean Fried Chicken locally to support a restaurant, but want more veggies/banchan than just pickled radish. Had all your ingredients in the fridge, and made it to go along. Yummy! I did add more celery, but the ribs I used were small to begin with. Thanks for sharing!
Yay!! Thank you so much for the kind review and yes, it would be a great addition to your KFC meal. Cheers!
Thank you so much for this recipe! You have no idea how long (several years) I’ve been trying to find this dressing. I had the chance to make it tonight and this salad was so delicious. Thank you and I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
I only have slightly sweetened yougurt would that completely ruin the dish?
No that should be ok although not sure how sweet it is – don’t add the sugar, reduce amount of
Of yogurt and add a little mayo and see how it tastes.