Korean Veggie Pancakes

Korean pancakesI don’t know why, but Koreans make veggie or Kimchi pancakes on a rainy day or when drinking a rice wine. I don’t think there is a reason for it. Someone told me because the smell of cooking food goes around more easily when raining, so one house starts making Kimchi pancakes, then neighbors kind of feel like one, and so on. I think you just do because you grew up with it. General term for this pancake is “Jeon” in Korean, and depending on what you use, the jeon name commonly follows its main ingredients. It can be made either sweet or savoury. Great for a breakfast, snack, appetizer, side dish or even dessert!
Korean pancakes2

Ingredients (2 big pancakes)

1 cup of shredded green cabbage
1/2 thinly sliced onion
1 cup of bean sprouts
1 grated potato
1 cup of flour (you can use rice flour or buckwheat flour for gluten-free version)
1/2 block of tofu
1 egg
water
salt and pepper to taste

Mix egg, water and flour in a mixing bowl to make a pancake batter. Then add other ingredients into the batter. It should be slightly runny so that you can make thin pancakes. Heat a pan on medium heat, add a teaspoon of coconut oil and pour the batter in a thin layer. Cook for 3-5 minutes each side until nice and golden. Traditionally it is served with a soy sauce, but I made a tahini dressing today. Mix a teaspoon of tahini paste, a teaspoon of soy sauce, a teaspoon of white wine vinegar and a teaspoon of honey. Drizzle over the pancake before serve.

Smoked Chicken with Raw Coleslaw

Chicken SaladI’d love to try to smoke a whole chicken at home one day, but well I took an easy way today and bought this little browned bird from the shop.

Ingredients

Shredded smoked chicken
1/4 shredded green cabbage
1 carrot
1/4 red onion
handful of parsley
1 cup of green salads

1 teaspoon of tahini paste
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

To make the salad, I mixed shredded green cabbage, carrots, red onions and parsley, green salads with a tahini dressing. For the dressing, mix tahini paste, white wine vinegar and dijon mustard. Shred the smoked chicken and mix well with the coleslaw salad. The smoky flavour from the chicken and refreshing crunchy salad marries very well. You can definitely cook your own chicken either grilling or poaching for a healthier option. Leftovers? Put in your lunch box! It will be a great filling for sandwich or wraps next day. Enjoy it in moderation because a cured or smoked meat contains a high amount of sodium and fat.

Second Valentine’s Dinner with Friends

Dinner party1I love throwing a dinner party, cooking for loved ones. Tonight I cooked for my dearest friends and their partners since it might be the only time we all are free. I have only a couple of months until I go to Korea. One friend’s parents are coming here in March and staying for over a month. Another friend’s family comes over to Perth as well in April. And we might be moving to Melbourne anytime soon so I wanted to have a nice dinner with them before we all get busy. I thoroughly enjoyed great company tonight. Love you all xxx

CrostiniCheesy Bread
Hummus, Grilled Cheese, Chilli Chutney on Rosemary Bread

Orange SaladOrange Salad: Soak sliced red onions in cold water for 30mins. Slice Oranges and arrange them with red onion and green salad. Combine rose water, white wine vinegar and tamari sauce for dressing. Sprinkle pistachio nuts on top.

Grilled VeggiesGrilled Veggies on Bean Salad with Tahini Dressing: Grill chopped eggplant, red capsicum, sweet potato, mushroom and zucchini. Put them on cooked French puy lentils, canellini beans and green salad. Drizzle a tahini dressing made of tahini paste, water and apple cider vinegar. Sprinkle hazelnuts and season before serve.

Lamb and CouscousRoast Lamb with Couscous Salad: For couscous salad, combine cooked couscous, chopped parsley, capers, sun-dried tomatoes and pepitas. Season with salt and pepper. Put slices of roasted lamb on top and garnish with crumbed feta cheese and pomegranate.

Vanilla FlanVanilla Flan: Combine 1 can of condensed milk, same amount of milk, 3 eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Coat caramelised sugar at the bottom of the flan tin. Pour the flan mixture into a tin and bake in water bath for 1 hour in the 160 degree oven. Cool it down and set in the fridge for an hour or more.

Jat-Juk

Pine nut porridge
You might not have heard of this soup before. So here I am writing about it.
Jat-juk is a Korean porridge made by boiling finely ground soaked rice and pine nuts in water. We have a variety of porridge as rice is a staple. This pine nut porridge is by far one of the best because it is creamy, rich, nutritious and easy digest. Pine nuts in this porridge add protein, magnesium, vitamin E and vitamin B2. My mum used to make me this when I was a baby since it is easy to swallow and plain flavour. When I was sick with flu or stomachache as well. Porridge is the best just like westerners have a chicken soup. It is great to add a sprinkle of good quality salt and toasted nuts on top as well.

Ingredients
1 cup soaked rice (preferably over night. if you decide to use brown rice, soak longer)
1/2 cup of soaked pine nuts
5-6 cups of water
salt to taste
toasted nuts for garnish

Wash the rice clean until the water is clear. Soak rice and pine nuts in a separate bowl. Grind soaked rice and nuts separately with a cup of water using a food processor or blender until you get a paste. Pour out the rice paste into the heavy pot and bring it to boil. You have to keep stirring for about 10 minutes or so making sure it doesn’t stick to the pot. Then pour the pine nut paste into the pot and simmer for another 20-30 minutes. It is done when you get a hot oatmeal consistency. Serve hot or cold with salt and toasted nuts on top. Enjoy x

Valentine’s Dinner Menu 2014

Valentines EntreeEntrée
Rice and pine nut cold soup topped with hazelnuts
Rosemary bread with balsamic and truffle oil
Stuffed mushrooms with pâté, basil pesto and chilli chutney
Valentines MainMain
Balsamic caramelised beets on cannellini beans and kale salad topped with pea purée and pistachio nuts
Roasted lamb and garlic with green salad
Valentines DessertDessert
Flourfless chocolate cake, chocolate bliss ball and cinnamon-vanilla flan to share