Korean Hot Cakes

Korea’s answer to a pancake is very different from the English variety. Hoddeok are squat dumplings filled with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon, then squashed flat into cakes on a griddle or frying pan.

This recipe was kindly donated by Sue Pressey, a Korean living in Australia. Her blog contains other simple, yet delicious Korean recipes.

A word of warning the filling will be HOT! So proceed with caution (and a paper napkin).

KOREAN SWEET PANCAKES (HODDEOK)

138g plain flour (1 ¼ cups)
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons of full fat milk

Fermented yeast water
3 tablespoons of warm water
¼ teaspoon of white sugar
¼ teaspoon of easy-action, dried yeast.

Filling (mix well in a bowl)
3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons of light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon powder
2 tablespoons of crushed, unsalted peanuts or walnuts (optional)

Mix the ingredients for the yeast water in a small bowl and leave in a warm place for ten minutes. After ten minutes sift the flour into a large bowl and add the milk and salt. Mix with a spoon, then your hands, gradually forming into a soft dough (you may need a bit more milk). Knead lightly, adding more milk if needed till you have a soft and malleable dough. Leave covered with a cling wrap or a slightly damp tea towel in a warm place for three hours until doubled in size.

When the dough is ready, separate into six equal sized balls (a bit larger than a golf ball), and place on a plate. Widen the dough into a flattened round on the palm of your hand and place a tablespoon of the filling in the middle. Carefully gather the corners up, like a Chinese dumpling and seal well and tightly. Place the filled cakes, seam side down on a plate.

To cook: Heat ½ tablespoon of sunflower oil and a knob of butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. When hot place the cakes, three at a time, sealed side down in the pan. Using a spatula press the cakes out flat, turning after about four minutes when the cakes are golden brown. Cook the cakes on the other side until golden brown (about three or four minutes). You will have one side with ridges on – one flat. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Eat hot.

Jasmine and apple iced tea

I have been following the trials and tribulations of posh priest the Rev. Peter Owen-Jones in 'How to Live a Simple Life' on BBC Two. Reverend Peter undergoes a life swap, following in the steps of St Francis of Assisi with poverty and charity as the guiding doctrine for a life more meaningful.
We see him beg for food outside Waitrose, washing dishes at a restaurant and foraging on the Sussex Downs in a quest to forge an inner life richer than the outer one. One sentence sticks with me from the programme, in the words of Saint Francis, 'Take only what is necessary', a poignant maxim to live by in our age of rampant and mindless consumerism. Making good use of some of the needless things in my kitchen, I used up a surfeit of jasmine tea and an over-abundant mint plant in this recipe.

Serves 2

1 tablespoon green or jasmine tea
A couple of stalks of fresh mint
300ml of clear apple juice
2 tablespoons white sugar
Ice cubes to serve

Put the tea leaves and a couple of bushy sprigs of mint (sprigs rather than leaves so you can remove them after the tea has steeped) into a heat-proof measuring jug. Pour on 300ml of freshly boiled water and leave for 6 minutes to steep. Remove the mint sprigs and pour the brewed tea through a fine meshed seive into another measuring jug. While still hot stir in the sugar until dissolved, then add the apple juice. Stir to mix and store in the fridge in a sealed bottle. Pour over ice cubes in tumblers to serve.