Great Takeout Salad: The Seasonal Hwae Dup Bop You Can Carry Out From Catonsville Lotte

Hwae dup bop from Rainbow Sushi inside the Catonsville Lotte

We have a new option for easy, healthy takeout now that we have learned about hwae dup bop carryout at the new Lotte in Catonsville.

This is a salad of shredded lettuce and vegetables served with sliced sashimi-style fish, rice and a spicy sauce.  We ate it at Yetnal House last month, but we enjoyed it again last night when the Cordis Couple invited us over for impromptu dinner.

It's super easy dinner in minutes.  You get a takeout container packed with shredded lettuce, carrots, cucumber and other vegetables along with bite-sized slices of tuna and other fish.  You also get a package of cooked rice and a dollop of spicy red pepper sauce.  Mix to taste with a dash of sesame oil, and we ate beautifully.

Pre-stirring

The Cordis couple buy the "sashimi salad" at the Rainbow Sushi stand in the back right corner of the new Lotte in Catonsville.  Order.  Then shop for 10 minutes while the sushi chefs slice the fish for you.

The package serves three adults, they said.  With a little more cooked rice, they mixed up a bowl that served four us comfortably.  That's a deal at about $11.

Apparently, Rainbow Sushi only sells hwae dup bop in the summer and fall.  So go try now.  I thought the ingredients were delicious.  Crisp vegetables.  Tasty fish.  They stirred until everything mixed, and the sesame oil made a light dressing with the spicy sauce and some of that orange roe.

Honestly, I enjoyed this as much or more than the Yetnal House version.  I don't think we mixed our first hwae dup bop well, and the shredded vegetables made it easier to ensure that everything was coated with dressing and that every mouthful came with fish and vegetables.  Lisbeth had posted about her favorite version, extolling the shredded iceberg lettuce at Han Sung.  She is onto something, and the Rainbow Sushi version mixed several kinds of lettuce with radicchio and other vegetables.

I really recommend the Lotte in Catonsville.  The Ellicott City branch work great for quick shopping, but the new Lotte is worth the drive because it's bigger and has enormous selections of Indian, Korean and other ethnic items.