Seiyo meshida no jon / jeon Korean piccata with lady fern fiddleheads

Jeon Korean piccata is another easy way to enjoy the delicate harvest of the season!

Whole recipe (when made with kogomi and served with dipping sauce made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce and diluted with water):
82 calories; 3.8 g protein; 5.0 g fat; 5.6 g carbohydrate; 3.0 g net carbs; 75 mg sodium; 71 mg cholesterol; 2.6 g fiber


<Ingredients>

12 seiyo meshida lady fern fiddleheads (96 g in photo)
1 egg
Flour (to dust fiddleheads; not in photo)
1-2 tbsp sesame oil (to pan-fry fiddleheads; not in photo)

2 tbsp dipping sauce (not in photo; see Notes)


<Directions>
1.

Lightly beat egg, and strain through tea strainer into a small container.

2.

Clean fiddleheads.
Gently rub stem and curled-up sections to remove brown fluff while dipping in water or under running water.
Cut off discolored ends (can be done after blanching).

3.

Boil plenty of water, and blanch fiddleheads for 1 and a half minutes until they bend slightly when picked up.

Drain, and cool.

4.

In the meantime, prepare dipping sauce.
Here, I made 1/2 the amount of my typical dipping sauce (diluted with water), and added 2 stalks' worth of chopped chives.

5.

Curl each fiddlehead's stem around the head to the degree feasible (forcing it to curl would break the stem), and insert a toothpick to hold the shape.

6.
In a frying pan or griddle, heat sesame oil.


7.

Discard egg remaining in tea strainer.

8.

Lightly dust fiddleheads with flour on both sides.

Dip in egg. 

Pan-fry on medium low to low heat.

When bottom is done, flip, and cook other side.

When done, transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.

Dip again in egg, and cook as above once again (for a richer taste; optional).

9.

Serve hot with dipping sauce.

<Notes>

• As with any kogomi or seiyo meshida fiddlehead dish, this tastes great when made the same day as harvested.
• Tastes best when hot.
• Dipping sauce can be as simple as a mixture of soy sauce and rice vinegar or citrus juice. Make sure to dilute with kobudashi (kombu kelp infused water) or water to prevent it from stealing the spotlight from delicate fiddleheads and to prevent overconsumption of sodium. Korean pepper powder/flakes, ground sesame seeds, sugar and chopped chives can be added. Gochujang is also common, but it would overwhelm fiddleheads.
• Curling up each fiddlehead is optional. When your fiddleheads have somewhat long stems, coiling as above makes them easier to pan-fry and eat.
• Double dipping is optional. It makes this jeon piccata richer. However, if cholesterol is a concern, single dipping is recommended.
• If a brighter yellow color is desired, use egg yolk only or a mixture of whole egg and egg yolk.
• The above nutrition figures are based on actual consumption of diluted dipping sauce being 1 tsp per serving: This is a higher volume compared to dipping sauce served with other jeon or jijigmae pancakes; as fiddleheads have virtually no salty taste, people are likely to use more dipping sauce.