Nira to koebi no chijimi / jijigmae Korean savory pancake with garlic chives and bay shrimp

This simple combination of nira garlic chives and little shrimp is unbeatable. Shiitake mushrooms provide an earthy note.

Whole recipe (when served with kobudashi-diluted dipping sauce made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce):
409 calories per serving; 25.7 g protein; 6.8 g fat; 58.8 g carbohydrate; 54.3 g net carbs; 25 8mg sodium; 309 mg cholesterol; 4.5 g fiber


<Ingredients>

(Makes 1 22-23 cm pancake)

Small bundle nira garlic chives (about the size of a bundle of pasta for 1 serving; 67 g in photo)
Small handful bay shrimp (50 g in photo)
4 shiitake mushrooms (32 g in photo)

For batter
60 g flour
1 tbsp katakuriko potato starch
1 egg
100 cc water
1/4 tsp shiokoji salted rice malt (optional)

1-2 tsp sesame oil

Dipping sauce (see recipe)


<Directions>
1.

In a bowl, lightly beat egg, add water, and mix.

Mix potato starch and flour well.

Add to egg + water mixture, and mix.  

Add shiokoji, and mix.

2.

Chop nira into 2-3 cm.
Remove discolored ends of shiitake stems, and thinly slice.

3.

Put nira, shiitake and bay shrimp in batter, and mix well. 

4.

Heat a frying pan, put sesame oil, coat pan surface by swirling, and drain excess oil.

5.

Put batter in pan, leaving room for pancake to expand, and cook on low heat.

6.

When outer edge becomes opaque, flip.

Press pancake with spatula, and flatten somewhat (pancake becomes larger than at beginning).

7.

When done, flip once again, press with spatula, and cook until surface is crispy.

8.

Meanwhile, make dipping sauce.
Here some kobudashi (water with kombu kelp) is added to lower sodium content.

9.

Transfer to cutting board, and cut into desired shape.

Serve with dipping sauce.

<Notes>

• Depending on the pan material and heat conductivity, you might need to add more sesame oil after flipping the pancake to achieve crispy surface. (The pan above is cast iron, which can produce a very crispy surface without additional oil.) If you decide to add more oil, spoon a small amount along the edge of the pan in a circular motion. When pancake is done, place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
• Make sure to drain excess liquid from bay shrimp before adding them to batter; this prevents excess sodium in the final pancake.
• Some bay shrimp are quite salty. If your shrimp are the salty kind, do not add shiokoji to the batter.
• Thinly sliced onion (25-40 g; approx 1/4 medium onion) is a very nice addition.
• To dilute the dipping sauce, add 2 tsp kobudashi or water per 1 tbsp soy sauce in the dipping sauce recipe. Out of the diluted dipping sauce, 2-3 tsp is served with the pancake above (serving a small amount of dipping sauce results in getting less sodium).
• The above nutrition figures are based on actual consumption of diluted dipping sauce being 1/2 tsp (5 cc).
• If cholesterol is a concern, use only 1/2 egg (lowers cholesterol by about 100 mg) and reduce the amount of shrimp (above amount contains almost 100 mg cholesterol).

(Last updated: May 25, 2014)