Japanese Recipes for Healthy Living

This garlic chive pancake is originally Korean dish, but it’s very popular in Japan. It’s very easy to cook and contains a lot of vegetables. This recipe is my version, and it might be different from the Korean one, but it’s very tasty.

Korean Pancake, Chidimi

<Ingredients>

8 oz garlic chive, cut into 2 inches
1 carrot, julienned
2 tbsp pickled cut ginger (see below)
8 medium shrimps, peeled and cut into 3 or 4 pieces
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp fish powder (option, see below)
vegetable oil

(For the dipping sauce— mix up all the ingredients below)
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp honey
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp chili garlic sauce

Chili Garlic Sauce

<How to cook>

1. Mix flour, water, salt and fish powder in a big bowl.
2. Put garlic chive, carrot, pickled ginger and shrimp in the bowl, and mix them up.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Ladle 1 cup batter into skillet to make an 5-inch pancake. Cook about 3-4 minutes , then turn over and cook until other side is golden, 3-4 minutes more.
4. Serve warm with dipping sauce.

ASIAN INGREDIENTS

garlic chive, nira

Garlic Chive——I’ve never seen this vegetable in American grocery stores. You can find it in Korean stores, Japanese stores and Chinese stores. According to about.com, “Garlic chives pack a major nutritional punch for a mere 30 calories per 100 grams. Low in fat and high in dietary fiber and protein, they contain high amounts of Vitamin C and carotene, and are a good source of calcium. They also contain Vitamin B1 and B2. In Chinese medicine, garlic chives are considered to be a yin or warming food.”

pickled ginger

Pickled ginger——– You can find this at Asian grocery stores and some  American grocery stores. There is also pink ginger that usually is served at sushi restaurants. For this recipe, red one is suitable.

kezuriko

Fish powder (kezuriko)———– This can be found only at Japanese grocery stores as long as I know. It is powder form of dried, fermented and smoked skipjack tuna(bonito). This powder doesn’t have any chemical, which means no MSG.

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