Category Archives: Pancakes

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Pancakes

The last twelve months have been an amazing food adventure. Going meatless every Monday meant putting those creative bugs to work, utilizing ingredients I’ve never used before and thinking outside of the box.

I’ve sourced local produce directly from farmers more often than I’ve bought it from a supermarket, and realized it’s always better and often cheaper buying local and seasonal.

I’ve truly become a Meatless Monday advocate, convincing friends, family and animals to go meatless one day a week. Yes — even animals! I fed my dog tofu several times this year and started including local root vegetables and rice in his diet. Thanks to the folks here at Food2, I’ve gone from amateur food writer to pro.

I’m sad to hear that the end is fast-approaching for the site. I will miss all the irreverant quirkiness! And where am I to go next? I’ll still be going meatless on Mondays, still continuing to make Korean Food at Home (the other food I love, the food I’ve spent countless hours cooking this past year).

I’m off to writing and illustrating a superhero comic book. This isn’t the last you’ve heard from me — I promise there will be more coming soon. Until then, stay tuned. I’ll be back!

Vegetarian Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup Chinese Chives, sliced into 2″ strips
3 Korean peppers, sliced on the bias
2 California carrots, diced
1 cup sweet rice flour
pinch salt
1 cup water
2 eggs
4 eggs, beaten

Directions
Sautee vegetables in a skillet with two tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Cook for about two to three minutes, remove and set aside.

Mix batter in a mixing bowl: add flour, salt, water and eggs. Whisk until it’s nice and creamy. Reserve four eggs beaten for finishing the pancakes at the end.

Return cooked vegetables to the skillet with some vegetable oil. Pour about batter over veggies, pour beaten egg (about 1 egg per pancake).

Flip pancake over using spatula. Continue cooking for 2 minutes on each side. Remove, slice and serve!

Food2 Farewell
I’ve decided to prepare a holiday special and given the craziness that comes from shopping, re-organizing, and traveling, most individuals, including myself, don’t want to spend an entire day cooking on that special day. So I’ve started to prep my holiday meal ahead of time, by slowly purchasing groceries, cleaning, and pre-cooking them. To kick it off, I found these cute baby radishes and California carrots last week.

I blanched them in boiling water for a few minutes, threw them in an ice bath and into a ziplock bag for the freezer. I’ll see you soon little vegetables…to be continued…

Rina Oh is an artist, writer and chef and a Meatless Monday advocate. For the last year these Meatless Mondays recipes have appeared on Food2.com, a website that is owned and operated by Scripps Networks. These posts are copyrighted material and any photographs, illustrations or written material are forbidden to be used or reposted anywhere without permission. For more information on Meatless Monday, please visit meatlessmonday.com

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Filed under December 2011, Food2, Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, Pancakes, Rina's Food2 recipes

Korean Food at Home: Ban Chan Side Dishes

Ever wondered where all the little side dishes come from when you’re out eating at a Korean restaurant? No? Maybe? Well I was, so I embarked on a mini research mission.

It turns out that banchan, the side dishes we’re talking about, originated from the individual tables that were served up many, many eons ago in both the Royal court and upper class homes. At large banquets and feasts, various little tables were featured, one for each guest. Imagine going to a birthday feast where instead of sitting at tables of 8, 10, or 12, you sat alone, with your own small table. It’s because of this now obselete culinary practice that various small dishes emerged and banchan was born.

So Koreans love their ban chan — subbing out full courses in favor of smaller side dishes. The more there, is the merrier they get. Each meal, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner, always includes some form of ban chan.
In honor of the long-held tradition, I prepared four individual banchan side dishes and Korean pancakes made with Chinese chives. The latter is a form of pajeon, or savory pancake in Korean. The five dishes literally take less than an hour to make. And did I mention they make for great leftovers?

4 Classic Banchan: Korean Side Dishes & a Small Plate

Braised Korean Peppers with Fish Cakes

Ingredients
2 cups Korean peppers
1 cup water + 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup Korean fishcake sliced
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions
In a saucepot, add water, soy sauce and peppers. Bring liquid to a boil and reduce to a very low simmer. Cover and cook for about 20-25 minutes until they soften up. Turn off the heat and leave covered for about half an hour. The peppers will continue to steam inside the pot with the burner off.

Heat sesame oil and soy sauce in a saucepan and add fish cake. Saute for about 2-3 minutes in medium heat until the cakes are browned. Remove and serve with sliced braised peppers.

Korean Mustard Greens with Soy Vinaigrette and Daikon Radish

Ingredients
2 cups Korean Mustard Greens uncooked with stems cut off

1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 garlic clove minced
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons green onions, finely sliced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1/4 cup Daikon radish, shredded

Directions

Blanche mustard leaves in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Remove and rinse under cold running water. Squeeze excess water with your hands.

 

Place greens inside and mix thoroughly to season each piece.

Stir in shredded Daikon radish.

Crown Daisy with Soy Vinaigrette

Ingredients

1 bunch of crown daisy
1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 garlic clove minced
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons green onions, finely sliced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Directions

Blanche crown daisy in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Remove and rinse under cold running water. Squeeze excess water with your hands.

Mix soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, salt, sesame seeds and green onions in a mixing bowl. Place greens inside and mix thoroughly to season each piece.

Toasted Anchovies

Ingredients
1 cup dried anchovies
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water

Directions
In a frying pan, heat sesame oil and soy sauce and add anchovies.

Cook for about a minute on high heat and add sugar and continue cooking for another minute. Deglaze with a few drops of water. Remove from heat.

Korean Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
pinch sugar
1 cup cold water
1 cup Chinese chives, sliced into 2″ strips
Vegetable oil for pan frying

Directions
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add water and whisk well until the batter is smooth. Sir in the Chinese chives.

In a saucepan, heat about two tablespoons of vegetable oil and ladle pancake mix.

Cook for about 2 minutes on each side on medium heat. Cut into squares and enjoy with soy sauce on the side.

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Filed under Hot on the Blog, Korean Food at Home, November 2011, Pancakes, Rina's Food2 recipes