Today the temperature is supposed to reach 119F, so it's a lucky thing it's a holiday and everyone can stay home and run the air conditioner. It's also a good opportunity to cook and try out some new dishes.
This dish is milssam (밀쌈), or Korean crepes filled with vegetables and shrimp with a citron-vinegar-soy seasoning sauce. It's essentially the same as gajeulpan which I've made before but a simpler, less fancy version.
Goodies are placed on the crepes with a little of the seasoning sauce and gobbled up. What makes this meal so nice for a summer day like this is the zesty seasoning sauce, which is made with soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and lemon rind. So light and delicious.
Each item has a slightly different preparation method, so let's get started.
1. You can start by prepping the shrimp. Boil in water briefly and then season to taste with sesame oil, white pepper, salt. Set aside.
2. The seasoning sauce served in a half-lemon is prepared by mixing 3 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, and by zesting the second half of the lemon. Scoop out the second half and serve the seasoning inside.
3. Fry the mushrooms briefly in sesame oil and season with salt, pepper, and toasted sesame seeds.
4. Half the cucumber, cut into thin diagonal strips and salt them, allowing to sit for a few mins and release water. Squeeze a small bunch at a time to release liquids. Fry and season the same as the mushrooms.
5. The last part is creation of the crepes or wrappers. I'm no pro at this so best to not to look to me for advice, but here is how I make them. Use the whipper attachment of a blender and combine: 1.5 cups flour, 1.5 cups water, 1 egg yolk*, 1/4 tsp salt. Blend very well. Heat a large pan with a little oil. Pour in the batter -- just enough to cover the pan so it forms a very thin crepe. You'll need to circle around the pan in the air to make that happen. Cook just long enough until the crepe is sturdy enough to flip, but not long enough to brown. After the second side is cooked, remove and use a cup or bowl to cut a perfect circle into the crepe. Each crepe should make about small, perfect crepes.
* I used egg whites instead for a healthier version.
Comments
if you use egg whites instead of yolks.. do you use only one egg white? cuz i thought that yolks are normally used to keep things bound together in such recipes... i am interested to know! :)
Posted by: deborah | July 4, 2007 05:21 PM
Deborah: I used just one egg white, which is binding properties itself. The yolks are basically 100% cholesterol so I avoid them in all my cooking, except for the occasional bread-crust basting and rarely then.
Posted by: Evil J | July 4, 2007 05:44 PM
Hi, I stumbled across your blog while searching for Kimchi recipes and really like what I've read so far.
I enjoy making alot of fermented foods including kimchi, beer, miso, kombucha...pretty much something new every week.
I look forward to keeping up with your posts, please feel free to check out my URL (blog) if you like, it's been inactive for a month now but I will be posting this weekend on a few items including a Wit Beer, Kombucha, and the 2 Kimchi's I have going right now.
Thanks!
Brian
Posted by: Brian | July 6, 2007 12:59 PM
Hi
Your blog pictures are so enticing that I so want to have a kitchen of my own and try the recipes out myself!
Yuet Ching
Posted by: yuetching | July 10, 2007 06:30 PM
Thanks to your blog, I've been inspired to make tons of homemade kimchi ! So much better than the shop-bought stuff...I've already made mat kimchi, poggi kimchi and kkatugi...I've just finished a yummy looking oi-sobaegi which should be ready to eat soon...Thanks so much for the inspiration !!
Posted by: William | August 7, 2007 01:22 PM