My April sandwich for @mondoshawan's #biss sandwich contest, is made of Kimchi, fried button mushrooms, smoked tofu, red chicory and homemade buns.
I made Kimchi last fall out of Chinese cabbage, radish Daikon, a few shallots, a few pods of garlic, some freshly grated ginger, a few fresh chilis, a few sesame seeds, some cumin seeds, soya sauce and salt. I stuffed it in jars and let it ferment in a dark place for 2-3 days. After that I closed the lids and put the jars in a cold, dark place.
This Korean national dish made from fermented vegetables and with various spices. The Korean version of fermented vegetables is known all over the world, its spicy-sour taste is reminiscent of sauerkraut, but it is further accentuated by the addition of many spices.
Its name in Korean literally means “submerged vegetable,” as it is precisely the fact that the dish is constantly submerged below the surface of the brine that is key to its freshness and quality.
Ingredients for buns:
- 550 g all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave or sugar
- 20 g of fresh yeast
- 1.5 teaspoon sea salt
- 355 ml of warm water
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or any other oil
Ingredients for Vegan Egg Wash:
- 2 tablespoons of rice milk
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup or agave syrup
- 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon mix of sesame seeds, for topping
Preparation:
- Crush the yeast and mix it with one tablespoon of flour, maple syrup and 1 dl of warm water to form a yeast. Let the yeast rise in a warm place.
- Sift flour into a large bowl and make a big hole in the middle. Salt and bury the flour along the edge and pour the fermented yeast into the hole. Let it rise a little bit more in a warm place.
- Mix the dough with a wooden spoon, adding warm water. When you form a sticky ball of dough, sprinkle it with flour and mix until it starts separating from the bowl.
- Start kneading, first in the bowl, scraping all the dough off the bowl, adding some flour if needed. Transfer the dough to a floured board or a table cloth and knead it with both hands. Knead the dough until it separates nicely from the board and hands.
- Cut the dough into eight equal pieces and form them into balls.
Place them on a baking tray and cover them with a kitchen towel. Let it rise for a few minutes.
Heat the oven to 200⁰C. - Mix together rice milk, maple syrup and mustard. Coat the buns with it and sprinkle some sesame seeds on them.
Place in the oven and bake for about 15- 20 minutes.
Place them on the cooling rack and let it cool fully.
Ingredients for the sandwich:
- a few tablespoons of Kimchi
- 200 g of smoked tofu
- salt
- pepper
- sweet paprika
- a tablespoon of olive oil
- a few button mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- rosemary
- a few leaves of red chicory
Preparation:
- Slice smoked tofu, dry it with a paper towel and spice it with sweet paprika, pepper and salt to taste.
Heat up a dry pan and roast tofu slices on both sides, when they are almost done, add a teaspoon of olive oil and cook on both sides just for another few moments. Set aside.
- Slice button mushrooms. Heat up a pan with three tablespoons of oil and add sliced mushrooms. Fry until mushrooms start to release the water, remove from the heat and sprinkle with rosemary.
- Cut buns in the middle and place some Kimchi on the bottom, add fried mushrooms and tofu, and place a few leaves of red chicory on top.
