Seoul, Korea is a great place to go for a short girls’ trip. I recently went with my cousins and we had such an amazing time there. Aside from the crazy shopping of clothes and Korean skincare and cosmetics, we treated our stomachs very well with out-of-this-world Korean food! From the very local joints to the more ‘east meets west’ restaurants, Seoul seems to have it all. One thing that we couldn’t seem to get away from (and why would you want to get away from) is their delicious fermented side dish, kimchi. Kimchi is the dish that is served in all restaurants whether you want it or not. This side dish is part of the Koreans’ every meal and some restaurants even offer unlimited servings of them.

I love kimchi. My mouth waters just from the smell of this pungent and garlicky fermented cabbage. I can eat it with anything from noodles, fried rice, dumplings or just straight out of a jar. The very well balanced spice, tang and crunch make kimchi a very workable ingredient in a lot of dishes. These days, there is a trend of using kimchi in a lot of western dishes. You see kimchi burgers, kimchi pulled pork buns/sandwiches and even kimchi pastas.

Aside from being delicious, kimchi has a lot of health benefits. Kimchi is loaded with fibers which help with digestions. It is also a natural source of probiotics (from its fermentation), the healthy bacteria that is in our gut, keeping our intestines in a healthy state.

Here’s my take on incorporating kimchi into a western brunch dish …

《香燒烤鴨泡菜班戟》

食材:

班㦸漿：

中筋麵粉 135克

糖 10克

泡打粉5克

鹽 少許

牛奶 130毫升

大蛋 1隻

油/ 溶牛油2茶匙

配料：

中式烤鴨 (連皮和醬汁, 撕開) 1/4隻

泡菜 40g

洋蔥 (切片) 3個

醬汁：

韓式辣醬 1茶匙

蛋黃醬 (Kewpie) 5茶匙

裝飾：

芫茜 適量

芝麻 適量

油香蔥 適量

做法：

1. 拌勻麵粉，糖，泡打粉和鹽

2. 在另一碗打拌牛奶，油和蛋，加入步驟1的粉 (有微粒仍可)

3. 燒熱平底鑊並掃上一些油，放入約3湯匙的班戟漿，煎大概1-2分鐘，直到表面有氣泡

4. 用刮刀小心翻起另一面再煎1-2分鐘到金黃色

5. 用錫紙輕蓋上班㦸，並放入80度的焗爐保溫

6. 燒熱另一個平底鑊並加入一些油，快炒鴨肉絲，可加入燒鴨汁令肉質更好

7. 再加入少許油，令鴨皮更脆

8. 在另一個碗把韓式辣醬和蛋黃醬混合，備用

9. 把一塊班㦸上碟，加入鴨肉、泡菜、洋蔥片和辣蛋黃醬，撒上芝麻、脆鴨皮和油香蔥，並以芫茜伴碟便可