Korean Pancake with Sliced Roots & Chilli Sweet & Sour Tamari

One of my dearest friends, Soljee, is from South Korea, and I have spent quite a lot of time there. One of my favourite and quickest dishes to make is the Korean pancake – crispy on the outside and filled with veggie goodness on the inside, it is wonderful dipped in the best tamari dressing ever! This is also made with my own Gluten-free Flour Mix. Many shop-bought gluten-free flour mixes can be unpredictable. Make a double batch of this and you will thank me later. It is not only practical but, more importantly, it works a treat!

Makes 1 big pancake, serves 2

Ingredients
70g Gluten-free Flour Mix (see below)
160ml water
pinch of bread soda
olive oil, for frying
100g asparagus spears, sliced lengthways
½ leek, sliced lengthways
1 carrot, chopped into thin sticks

For the Gluten-free Flour Mix (makes 900g)
210g brown rice flour
140g buckwheat flour
70g white rice flour
40g oat flour
40g potato starch/flour
40g tapioca flour

For the dressing
60ml tamari soy sauce
juice of ½ lime
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp maple syrup
½ garlic clove, peeled and grated

To serve
2 spring onions, chopped
black or white sesame seeds
coriander, optional

Method
Start off by mixing all the ingredients for the dressing in a small jar, pop the lid on, give it a shake and set aside.

To make the Gluten-free Flour Mix, mix all the flours together and store in an airtight container.

In a bowl, mix the flour, water and bread soda and set aside.

Heat some oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add all the veggies and fry for 5 minutes until brown.

Spread the veggies out evenly in the pan and pour over the batter until you have a big pancake.

Cook for 5 minutes on each side until crispy and golden brown.

Serve immediately, cut into slices, topped off with the spring onions, sesame seeds, coriander and the amazing dressing alongside.

Tip Such an easy dish to serve as a starter, sharing platter or quick solo meal after a long day at work.

Extracted from Happy Food by Bettina Campolucci Bordi (Hardie Grant, approx €23). Photography © Nassima Rothacker.