Vegan Kimchi Cheese Chips

Vegan Kimchi Cheese Chips

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

1 recipe of cheddar cheese sauce from Teri Gentes
750 g frozen chips
300 ml kimchi

Method 

1. Make the cheddar cheese sauce. Cook the chips according to packet directions.

2. Drain the kimchi. Chop into 1 cm pieces. Fry in an oiled pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

3. Top the chips with the cheddar sauce and kimchi.

Kimchi Jeon

I've been very busy with university in the last few weeks. It's a good thing I have to write blog posts; testing recipes, taking photos and putting together posts gives me a break. Not that I'm complaining, what could be more fun than trying to work out what, exactly, Adorno is trying to say when he pops out something like this: "Though discursive knowledge is adequate to reality, and even to its irrationalities, which originate in the laws of motion, something in reality rebuffs rational knowledge"?

Anyway, onwards to the most important thing, the food. Kimchi jeon are fritters overflowing with tangy kimchi. They make a great snack or dinner with a side or two. In my opinion, they'd also go really with a barbecue or as snacks for a party. They're very easy to put together - just mix everything in a bowl and fry them up. On the evening I took this picture I had them with hobak namul (stir-fried zucchini) and rice for dinner.

Kimchi Jeon

Makes 6 jeon

Ingredients

500 ml vegan mak kimchi
6 tbsp kimchi juice
6 tbsp soy milk
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp rice flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Method

1. Drain the kimchi, saving the juice. Combine kimchi with all remaining ingredients.

2. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat. Spoon in 1/6th of the batter and spread evenly into a thick fritter. Fry until browned, turn, and brown the other side.

3. Cook remaining fritters, adding more oil between batches as necessary. Enjoy! You can have the jeon with soy or dipping sauce, but I find them flavourful enough just as they are.

Variation: You can make two large jeon instead of six small ones, and then cut them into wedges or tear them up with your chopsticks to eat them.

Delicious Kimchi Recipes: Part 1

So you made some vegan kimchi last week. Now what should you use it for? Well, you could eat it straight, or you could make one of these great recipes. Kimchi-based recipes taste complex, but are usually quick and easy. So if you find yourself wanting to get dinner on the table fast, it helps if you have some kimchi in the fridge.

Firstly, if you haven't had kimchi before, this kimchi fried rice (with the bacon and egg omitted) is a great introduction. It's tasty and comes together very fast if you have leftover rice.

Or, if you're in more of a mac and cheese mood, you could cook up a creamy pan of kimchi mac & shews, by replacing the sauerkraut with kimchi. Add some more chili flakes if you want this to have a kick - the kimchi doesn't make it very spicy. Warning: this recipe, although wonderful, does take some time to make.

If you're feeling the cold and want a bowl of spicy stew, this kimchi jjigae along with some rice might hit the spot. It's my favourite winter meal, and, best of all, it comes together in less than half an hour, since we don't have to cook the meat. You'll end up with more than you see in my picture - this is the pot minus one serving, and I was a bit short on kimchi.

Looking for more Korean recipes?

Jjajangmyun (Korean-Chinese Black Bean Noodles)

Easy Vegan Kimchi (Mak Kimchi)

Easy Vegan Kimchi (Mak Kimchi)

Have you tried kimchi? It's amazing. You can use it in heaps of recipes (I'll be posting some of my favourites soon), or just eat it straight.

This recipe is quite easy to make, but you do need to get the cabbage soaking about two hours before you start. The kimchi should also be made from a day to a week in advance of when you want to use it, depending on how fermented you like it.

Easy Vegan Kimchi (Mak Kimchi)

Adapted from this recipe, by Hyosun Ro.
Makes about 1 litre

Recipe notes

• Gochugaru are Korean chili flakes. Substituting with another kind of chili flakes isn't a good idea. They have a different flavour and spiciness level.
• It's best to use gloves to make this - your hands will get dyed red from the chili otherwise.
• If you can't find or don't want to use wakame, it's alright to leave it out.
• You can start eating this straight after the 24-hour fermentation period, or wait for a few more days, depending on how fermented you like it. It keeps for around two weeks after you make it, or longer, if you don't mind eating it a bit sour.

Ingredients

1 tbsp wakame
1 napa cabbage
120 ml sea salt or 90 ml table salt
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp sugar or one pear
a bunch spring onions
120 ml gochugaru
2 tbsp soy sauce, preferably korean or tamari

Method

1. Pour 120 ml boiling water over the wakame and set aside.

1. Dissolve the salt in 750 ml water in a large bowl. Quarter the cabbage, core it, and chop into 3-5 cm pieces. Mix with the salt water. Let sit for about two hours, mixing occasionally. Drain and rinse well.

2. Strain the wakame-flavoured water into a bowl. Add the gochugaru and soy sauce. Mince garlic and pear (if using) and chop spring onions into 3-5 cm lengths. Add to bowl.

3. Mix together the sauce and cabbage with your (gloved) hands. You want to coat all the cabbage pieces in sauce.

4. Put the kimchi in a container, and pour 100 ml of water over it. Squash down with a fork to remove any air bubbles. Put the lid on. Leave out for 24 hours, then put in the fridge.

Looking for more vegan Korean recipes?
Delicious Kimchi Recipes: Part 1
Jjajangmyun (Korean-Chinese Black Bean Noodes)
Kimchi Jeon

Jjajangmyun (Korean-Chinese Black Bean Noodles)

Jjajangmyun is a Korean-style Chinese takeaway meal of meat and vegetables cooked in a delicious thick black bean sauce on noodles. I'd been looking forwards to trying it for ages, so I adapted it to be vegan by using some baked tofu. It turned out pretty good!

If you have leftover sauce the next day, but ate all the noodles, you can make jjajangbap by eating the sauce on rice. I topped my version with cucumber, but it's also nice to eat with yellow pickled radish.

Jjajangmyun

Serves 4

Ingredients

450g tofu
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Korean soy sauce or tamari
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pack udon or sutamyun
2 onions
2 potatoes
1 zucchini
2 carrots
vegetable oil
250 ml chunjang (Korean black bean paste)
500 ml water
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cucumber

Method

1. Dice the tofu, toss with the sesame oil, soy sauce and pepper, and put in the oven at 200 C for 30 minutes, turning once.

2. Cook noodles. Dice the onions and zucchini. Peel and dice the carrots and potatoes. Heat oil over medium heat in a pan and add all the vegetables except the cucumber. Fry for a few minutes.

6. Add some more oil and the chunjang. Fry for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the water, bring to a boil, and simmer until the vegetables are done. Add the tofu.

8. Mix the cornstarch with a few tablespoons of cold water. Add it and cook for a few minutes, until thick. Add sugar and turn off heat. Julienne the cucumber.

9. Place the noodles in bowls. Top with sauce and garnish with cucumber. Mix up and eat!