I kicked off holiday week with Sweet Potato Latkes this morning.

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It occurred to me that I still have lots of Korea love to share despite doubling up with the Bibimbap and Galbi last post. That’s what I get for trying to cram both Koreas into one week. Not only that, I realized that I forgot to tell Tomato that Japan was coming up, and there’s no way she’d have time to ask Mama Tomato for her favorite home grown Japanese recipes in time for this week. Therefore, the plan is this:  more Korea fun, followed by the second edition of Holidays Around the World, and then Tomato’s favorites from her motherland. Lots about which to get excited.

You know what else is also worthy of excitement?

Pancakes.

Duh. I think I talk about my Sunday morning pancake routine more than is appropriate and by now you’ve realized I’m always on the hunt to find international pancake swaps worthy enough to substitute for my peanut butter chocolate chip favorites.  While often times I’m left longing for my usual, today I was not.

Hotteok are sweet, filled pancakes. Typically pan fried, they are a popular street food in Korea.  Since sweet breakfasts are my jam, I was all about giving these a try.

However, the hotteok did give me pause since the recipe requires yeast, and my relationship with that particular ingredient has been tenuous as of late. However, I trusted my gut based on the success of the Belgian waffles and figured I’d give it a go.

The recipe I used from Beyond Kimchee was really easy and straight forward, and the prep was quick enough that I was chowing down less than an hour after my feet hit the floor for the morning.  I did make one change to the original recipe- I didn’t pan fry them, but used a just a bit of coconut oil on a cast iron skillet. Still crispy, still delicious, just not greasy, and that’s just how I like it.

Item of note:  Beyond Kimchee called for using a special press to flatten the pancakes on the griddle.

As a rule, I don’t like extraneous kitchen gadgets and certainly was not going to go out and buy this special tool to make pancakes…I mean, I use my mojito muddler to pound meat thin quite successfully, so I used the next best thing at my disposal.

Cans.

All pumpkin, all the time

Be sure to wash them well before placing them on the pancake. Breakfast this morning made me look within and question my propensity to hoard canned pumpkin, enough so that I made the Tomato-pumpkin soup from Africa for dinner tonight.

These pancakes were so good that I when tried to think of a finishing touch to make them extra special, I could not think of anything to make them better. So I ate them as-is and love them just as they are.

They are my Bridget Jones.

Recipe from Beyond Kimchee

Makes 5-6 pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat)

½ cup glutinous rice flour

½ TB sesame seeds

½ envelope instant yeast (I used about 2 tsp)

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

¾ cup milk, lukewarm

1/2 tsp coconut oil, melted

Oil for the pan

For the filling:

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 TB finely chopped nuts (I used almonds)

½ tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Mix flours, yeast, sesame seeds, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour the warm milk (not too hot- don’t want to kill the yeast) mixed with the coconut oil to the flour mixture and mix everything with wooden spoon. The dough will be very sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and keep the bowl in a warm place for 30-45 minutes until doubled in size.

2. Deflate the dough by punching it in the center and let it rest for another 5-10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, mix brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl.

4. Tear a piece of dough (about 1 1/2 – 2″ in diameter) and stretch out with your hand. Place 1 TB of the filling mixture in the center and pinch the edges of the dough toward the center to close making a ball shape.

5.  Heat the pan with oil over medium heat. Drop the dough and push it with spatula or something (like the aforementioned cans) to flatten it. When you see the surface puffs up slightly, flip to the other side and continue cooking until a nice golden brown crust forms.

Serve immediately.

I’m excited to try this with other things melted inside. Maybe chocolate and peanut butter? Mmmm….

CONFESSION:  While I try and make myself look all civilized about how I eat meals, Sunday morning in my house ACTUALLY looks like this…

Tastes better this way. I think.

It’s Friday night!  And you know what that means?

Chinese food.

When I first moved to Chicago and lived with Watermelon, Friday night Chinese was our tradition. We lived together for a little over three years (proof that Craigslist roommates CAN be a good thing), and neither of us wanted anything more after a long week than Chinese takeaway, fuzzy slippers, bad TV and a warm beverage to cap the night. Living on the edge.

Watermelon has since moved out, and I think Chinese for one isn’t really worth it. I find I can’t be bothered to order take out (the ultimate in lazy) and since the fruits of my kitchen are usually picked through by Friday night, dinner at the end of the week turns into cereal, toast, eggs…you get the idea.

Not tonight. Tonight, I revamp the Chinese tradition by making the lone man’s version of Peking duck.

Peking (Beijing) duck may be considered by many to be the national dish of China, distinct both in the type of duck bred specifically for the dish and in the method and preparation of the duck.  Some cooking manuals trace the dish back to the 1300s, and variations of it have appeared on imperial court menus. Quanjude is one of Beijing’s oldest Peking duck houses, established in the 1860s.  That’s really old.

The type of duck traditionally used is the Pekin breed from Nanjing, ideal thanks to its small stature, deep flavor, and relatively low-fat skin.  This lower fat content allows the skin to get all kinds of good and crispy.  No one wants a soggy duck. 

To cook it, air is forced between the skin and flesh to puff out the skin so that the fat will be rendered out during roasting and the skin will be very crisp.  Crispy is key.  The inflated bird is painted with a sweet solution, hung up to dry, roasted  and suspended in an oven.

Good for them, but I’m not doing that. Why?

a) I don’t need to eat a whole duck

b) I am too hungry when I get home any day of the week to spend days roasting and drying a duck

c) I do not own the requisite clay oven

d) I really don’t care that much.

However, I DO care about flavor, so I’m recreating Peking duck, crispy skin and all, using duck breasts. I remember a long time ago I lamented the fact that lone duck breasts were not to be found. Turns out, I was not looking hard enough, because as I glanced at the freezer case in my local Whole Foods, there they were. Frozen, skin-on and all. Perfect for my Peking faking.

Funny– as I was putting the spices together I had to double check to make sure I was not making pumpkin pie:  cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger…seriously? However, mixing all of the above with soy sauce worked some magic, and my duck came out moist on the inside, crispy on the outside and altogether lovely.  All in a little over 30 minutes.

As for a side, cabbage is quite popular. When I opened my fridge, I was sad to find I didn’t have any. Probably because I didn’t buy it. Whoops. What I did have was kale, so I roasted some kale (have you ever done that? It comes out all nice and crispy.  Again, going with the crispy theme) and dressed it simply with some roasted sesame seeds and a little of the sauce I made for the duck.  Probably not a 100% authentic side dish, but I’m okay with it. So was my tummy.  Definitely better alternative than toast.

Enough rambling. Here you go:

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

2 whole duck breasts, skin on

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp white pepper

1/8 tsp ground cloves

3 TB soy sauce

1 TB honey

1 TB parsley, chopped

1 TB mint, chopped*

2 green onions

*I had mint in the fridge, so I used it. Not at all authentic. Don’t hate.*

Ginger-Orange-Hoisin Sauce

1 ½ TB soy sauce

1 ½ TB hoisin sauce

1 TB orange juice

1 tsp ginger, finely chopped

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

½ tsp garlic sauce

1.   In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, white pepper and cloves.  Sprinkle a bit of this seasoning under the skin of each breast.  Stir ½ TB of the soy sauce into the remaining spice mixture and rub evenly on the outside of the bird.  Cut one of the green onions in half and place half under each skin.  At this point you can refrigerate overnight if you want.

2.  Preheat the oven to 375.

3.  Heat a wee bit of oil in a sauté pan.  Once it’s smoking hot, sear each breast skin side down until golden brown. Only sear the skin side.

4.  Place the duck breast side up in a roasting pan and prick the skin all over using a fork.

5.  Roast for 30 minutes.  While the duck is roasting, mix together the remaining soy sauce and honey. After 30 minutes, brush the honey mixure onto the duck and return it to the oven.  Turn the heat up to 500 and roast for 5 minutes until the skin is richly browned.  Do not char the skin.

6.  Prepare the duck sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients together, and simmer on the stove about 3 minutes until all is combined and saucy.

7.  Before slicing the duck, let sit 5-10 minutes to let the juices redistribute within. Drizzle with the sauce to serve.

Quack, Quack.