I’ve made mention before how much I love snacks. Finger foods, especially the salty, spicy and crispy ones, are really all I need to be happiness and life satisfaction. When Gourmet arrived in our mail box this month, we were excited for two reasons: one, we don’t remember ordering Gourmet (though we have a vague memory of it being tacked on to an Amazon order around Christmas time as a ’special gift.’), and two, the spread on Korean dishes in the middle of the magazine is gorgeous and inspiring. The photo I’ve included in this post really pales in comparison to the luscious photos in the spread.
Being that I had no desire to create a meal for eight with eleven dishes and three separate beverages, I picked out three I thought would make a nice dinner. The most appealing, of course, were the snackish foods: cucumber apple pickle, soy-pickled jalepeños and shrimp and scallion pancakes.
Recipes are all adapted from the March 2009 issue of Gourmet
Cucumber Apple Pickle
Ingredients:
1/2 lb Japanese or Kirby cucumbers
1 1/4 tsp fine salt
1/2 Granny Smith apple
2 c water
1/3 c rice vinegar (unseasoned) or cider vinegar
1-2 T very thin matchsticks of peeled ginger
1/4 c sugar
Pinch of Korean hot red-pepper threads (optional)
Slice cucumbers crosswise 1/8-inch thick and toss with salt. Let stand for 30 minutes, then rinse and squeeze out excess liquid with your hands.
Halve apple half lengthwise and cut out the core. Slice crosswise 1/8-inch thick. Toss with cucumbers and remaining ingredients and marinate and chill, turning occasionally, for at least a day.
Soy-Pickled Jalepeños
(makes about 1 cup)
Ingredients:
3 large fresh jalepeños
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tsp grated lemon zest.
2 tsp packed dark brown sugar
Combine all the ingredients in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Marinate and chill for at least 8 hours.
Shrimp and Scallion Pancakes
(The recipe says it serves 8 for a first course. I think it serves 2-3 for a main meal)
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup water
2 large eggs, beaten
1 T Asian sesame oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 bunch of scallions, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and halved lengthwise*
vegetable oil for frying
Preheat oven to 200 F. Set a cooling rack in a baking sheet and put it in the oven.
Mince and mash garlic with 3/4 tsp salt, then whisk together with water, eggs and sesame oil. Whisk in flour until smooth. Stir in scallions, bell pepper and shrimp.
Heat some oil in a small, non-stick pan until hot. Drop some of the batter (about 1/4 cup) onto the pan and flatten out with spoon to evenly distribute the vegetables. Turn once until golden and cooked through (takes about 5 minutes for each pancake). Drain on paper towels if needed (I didn’t use that much oil) then transfer to the oven to keep warm until all the pancakes are ready.
* Halving the shrimp lengthwise became too cumbersome for me, so I just cut mine into thirds. It didn’t help to make a perfectly thin pancake, but it worked, nonetheless.