Kimchi Pancake - Another Revelation.

Sometimes you try a food and it’s a revelation. Kimchi pancakes are like that. I have a feeling that kimchi pancakes are going to become my new go-to, don’t have time to cook, food. It’s so easy. Tastes good. Is infinitely variable. Will work with whatever I have in the house. I might even try them without kimchi.

So here’s the deal. It’s a savory pancake. And I’m not sure I’ve ever had a savory pancake. Just like I’d never had savory oatmeal for breakfast. I’d never even thought of a savory pancake.

By now, kimchi stew has become part of my normal repertoire. Susan loves it. Works with whatever I have in the house. Seems to be a theme here.

On Friday at lunchtime I poked around on the web for kimchi pancake recipes. It’s something I’d been wanting to try. As with the kimchi stew, there were lots of variations, and everyone claimed theirs was the best. I figured I’d read enough to wing it. There were a few common threads: 1) a little cornstarch aids a crispy crust, and 2) use the kimchi juice for the liquid. Some used eggs and some didn’t, but I thought an egg would be good.

So...some VERY approximate measurements....I just dumped these in till they looked good:

1/2 cup flour -- half whole wheat, half all-purpose
2 tsp cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1/2-1 cup kimchi. I used a combination of diced radish and green onion kimchi
1/4 cup of kimchi juice
1 egg
1 Tbsp dried shrimp
1 drizzle of canola oil

1. Mix together the flour and cornstarch and salt
2. Add the kimchi and the kimchi juice and dried shrimp
3. Add the egg
4. Mix it all together. It should resemble a chunky pancake batter. If it’s too dry, add a little water. Don’t overmix, otherwise it’ll start to get all gluten-ey
5. Heat a little oil in a non-stick skillet and when it’s hot add the pancake batter and spread it out.
6. Cook on medium to medium-high heat till it starts to smell good, by which time it should be crisping underneath. I made the pancake pretty thick, so I had to make sure it would cook all the way through.
7. Flip it over. Good luck. It’s a big pancake. I had to do it in section. Next time, I may experiment with smaller pancakes, but really, it worked fine, even though it fell apart a bit.
8. Cook some more until the bottom is crispy.
9. Slide onto a plate.
10. Serve with a soy-based dipping sauce. I used a Tablespoon (or so) of soy sauce, a few splashes of sesame oil, and a few splashes of rice wine vinegar. Use your imagination. (Fish sauce would be good).

The taste is powerful, but not overwhelming. Cooking definitely tames the “raw” taste of kimchi. And check out how it colors the batter and the pancake. A deep reddish-orange.

The thing about this is that as long as the batter is that breakfast pancake texture, you could put anything you want in there. Some thoughts:

* Mushrooms
* Sweet potatoes, or white potatoes
* Roasted vegetables
* Any kind of vegetables, cut up. Cooked if they’re hard.
* Meat or fish or whatever, already cooked.


Can you see it? The possibilities? Just a half cup of flour, some kimchi and kimchi juice, and anything else you’ve got. Precook anything that needs precooking (like maybe some pork belly? or a can of tuna?) Then dump it in the batter and pour it out, and there’s instant dinner.

It’s like a pizza. But healthy.

UPDATE:  I've tried it again with pork belly.  Terrific.