K for kimchi for #AtoZChallenge: kimchi longan pancake recipe

Hello Korean food fan! Kimchi (김치 in Hangul) is a Korean national dish that has gone global. The most popular kimchi are fremented from napa cabbage, radish, scallion, or cucumber as a main ingredient. My favorite kimchi includes sweet lotus root kimchi, what are yours?

In Singapore, I bought spicy & sour kimchi from NTUC Fairprice. Perhaps one day we can also try the special low-calorie and vitamin-rich version of Korean space kimchi, publicized as starship kimchi, that was designed for the astronauts Ko San / 고산 / 高山 & Yi So-Yeon / 이소연 / 李素妍, the first Korean and the second Asian woman (defined as a female resident of an Asian country) to fly in space.

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 12 Sat, I lovingly present a kimchi longan pancake recipe by ServicefromHeart.



Thanks to Korean drama series & movies through Korean diaspora, we have been introduced to delicious Korean food.

You can refer to this recipe as partly accidental, yet it brought simple happiness to me and baby Ren who loves it too!

I was given lotus root powder, that I do not know what to do with it. How is about using it to make pancake?

Lotus root is cooling in nature, usually taken during the summer months. Therefore, it can balance the hot and spicy kimchi.

I also need to consume some items that have been residing in our fridge for some days. These include parsley and longan.

The combinations of sweet longan, spicy-tangy kimchi, salty anchovies, and fragrant parsley brings joyful treat to your taste buds.

The texture of longan is also slightly similar to some shrimps that I have eaten.

Parts of this recipe are also inspired by the recipe of green onion pancakes by Holly of BeyondKimchee. In particular, the tips to use cake flour instead of plain flour, so that you can obtain crispier texture of panckage. Later on, I decide to minimize the use of cake flour after realizing that it contains chlorine. 



Servings: 2
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
For pancake:
♥ 1/2 cup of plain flour
♥ 1/2 cup of water
♥ 1 tbsp of lotus root powder
♥ 1 egg
♥ kimchi (if you like spicy, add more; else use slight amount)
♥ longan
♥ anchovies (you can also use salt)
♥ pepper
♥ parsley (you can also use green onion / scallion)
For cooking:
♥ olive oil
♥ garlic
For sauce:
♥ 1 tbsp of Thai Fish Sauce
♥ 1/2 tbsp of vinegar
♥ 1 tsp white sesame seeds

Directions:
1. Mix flour, lotus root powder, pepper, water, in a bowl. Add egg, and re-mix.
2. Add kimchi, anchovies, and peeled cut longan. Mix again.
3. Sautee chopped garlic with 1tbsp olive oil in high heat until fragrant. Cover the frying pan for a while.
4. Turn the heat to between medium and low, add the pancake mixture.
5. Add the pancake mixture onto the frying pan to form a circular or any shape that you want. If you have heart shape stainless steel, your kimchi pancake will look even more romantic!

If you need to prepare a meal faster, please check also our other #5minutemeal recipes, particularly the easy kimchi fried rice.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140412