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Thursday, August 22, 2002

By Arlene Burnett

Ever hear of kimchee? What about mung beans? No? Read on and we'll explain. Kitchen Mailbox received this letter from Kate Hornstein of Moon: "After eating a Korean pancake cooked by an outdoor vendor near The New Sam Bok's (grocery store) in the Strip District, I've craved the recipe. The pancakes have a nice, spicy 'kick' that very much appeals to my California-born taste."

The "kick" Kate refers to comes from a Korean staple called kimchee or kimchi (KIHM-chee). Kimchee is a spicy-hot condiment made of fermented vegetables and is served at almost all Korean meals. The kimchee we used is made with cabbage, radishes, salt, hot peppers and fish sauce. The recipe for Korean Pancakes was sent in by Sandy Karbowski of Moon and calls for kimchee combined with garlic, eggs, green onions and mung beans. Mung beans are small (a little bit larger than a pinhead) dried yellow beans.

Kimchee and dried mung beans can be found at any Korean market. We bought ours at The New Sam Bok's, 1739 Penn Ave. in the Strip. The kimchee comes in large and small jars. The recipe calls for only 1 1/2 cups, so the small jar was enough. And the mung beans are packaged the same as any other dried beans.

We tested the pancakes twice. The first time, we didn't drain the kimchee, which made it a little difficult to keep the pancakes together as they cooked (too much liquid). The second time, we drained the kimchee and squeezed out most of the liquid with our hands. And that did the trick. The pancakes stayed together nicely.

We found using a griddle instead of a frying pan allowed us to cook more pancakes at one time. Also, using a griddle made it easier to turn these delicate cakes. We knew these spicy pancakes were a success because they disappeared in minutes. The next time we'll double the recipe.

A fantastic meal deserves a fantastic dessert, and that's why we served Soda Cracker Pie. You've probably guessed that this pie calls for soda crackers. The soda crackers are used as a filler for this dessert's scrumptious meringue-like crust made of chopped nuts, sugar and egg whites.

Warning: As the crust cools, the center will fall, and that's OK because you're going to pour a creamy-smooth filling made of whipped topping and cream cheese over the crust. Then, to make this dessert even more scrumptious, two cans of pie filling are placed over the cream filling. How's that for a tempting dessert?

Mung Bean Pancakes (Bindae Duk)

• 1 1/4 cups hulled spilt mung beans, see note
  
• 1 1/2 cups finely diced ham or pork
  
• 1 1/2 cups chopped kimchee, see note
  
• 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
  
• 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• Vegetable and sesame oil

Soak the mung beans overnight in cold water, drain well. Place the kimchee in a colander to drain. Remove kimchee from colander. With a sharp knife, chop the kimchee; set aside.

Place beans in a food processor or blender. Grind the beans while gradually adding 1/2 to 1 cup (we used about 1/2 cup) cold water until the beans form a fairly smooth paste. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Heat a heavy skillet (we used a griddle) and oil lightly with a mixture of vegetable and sesame oils. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the skillet and cook until golden underneath, with small bubbles appearing on the surface. Flip over and cook the other side. Stack cooked pancakes under a cloth or foil while cooking the remaining pancakes. Serve with chili dip or soy sauce.

Note: If you can't find mung beans, you can substitute garbanzo beans or yellow lentils. If you can't find kimchee, chopped Chinese cabbage and chili powder can be used.

Joanne Kirby of Carnegie requested a recipe for Soda Cracker Pie. This version was sent in by Arliss Sturges of Scott.

Soda Cracker Pie

• 6 egg whites
  
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 24 soda crackers, crushed
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
  
• 2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 cup chopped nuts
  
• 8-ounce container whipped top- ping
  
• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
  
• 2 cans pie filling (we used cherry)

Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff (this will take about 5 minutes).

Fold the crushed crackers, vanilla, vinegar, baking powder and chopped nuts into the egg and sugar mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until browned. Cool completely.

Combine whipped topping and cream cheese and beat until smooth. Spread over cake and top with pie filling of your choice.

Requests

Susan Luginski of North Fayette writes: "I was wondering if anyone out there might have the recipe -- or something close to it -- for the garlic salad dressing from the old Fatigati's restaurant in Cuddy. My parents 'courted' at Fatigati's, and it was the only restaurant I went to for probably the first 10 years of my life. That dressing was the first and best salad dressing I ever had!"