My sister introduced me to Korean cook and YouTube sensation, Maangchi, a while ago. She is the type of cook I enjoy most; she is enthusiastic and passionate about what she does and she makes the cooking look effortless. She is also such a bubbly personality that I often turn her videos on just so I can share in some of her high spirits.
I don't know that I will ever get around to making homemade kimchi but her kimchi pancakes (kimchijeon) are easy and delicious.
Here's the cast.
Since I used ready-made kimchi, the pieces are already small since they have to fit in the jar. I just gave them a quick chop.
I doubled Maangchi's recipe so a standard 12 oz. jar had just enough kimchi.
I put the chopped kimchi and onions into a bowl.
Then I added some of the reserved kimchi brine.
A bit of salt and sugar came next.
Then to make the batter part of the pancake, I added water...
Because I used the ready-made kimchi, the colors were rather bland. Next time I think I'll add some chopped green onions.
This dish is not for those who are watching their oil intake. Though a nonstick pan is used, there is still a lot of oil that is needed to make the pancakes crispy. I used grapeseed.
Maangchi uses a very large pan and cooks one batch as one big pancake. I used a small pan and divided my double batch to get 4 generously sized pancakes. Spread the batter thinly and cook on medium-high for about a minute.
I haven't mastered the flip and I especially didn't want to practice using a pan that had hot oil in it. I used a spatula. Press the pancake flat, lower the heat to medium and let it cook for about a minute and a half.
The outsides were crisp and the insides were chewy. I think I still need to use more oil to get it as crispy as Maangchi did.
She also makes a dipping sauce to go with the pancake but since we were eating chicken that had sauce, I decided not to. The pancakes were a definite hit with the guys!
Here's the promised link:
Definitely check out her YouTube channel, too:
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