This Oyster Kimchi Pancake Is Like A Korean Version Of Orh Luak

We love fried oysters and we love kimchi pancakes, so we combined them both to yield this scrumptious hybrid. Think a Korean version of our local orh luak (oyster omelette). Well, sorta — this doesn’t have eggs in it — but it tastes quite a lot like orh luak, with the crispier texture of kimchi pancakes. It can be as spicy or mild as you like, based on the sambal you use and how much you choose to put in it. We used a bottled prawn sambal because we like its deep flavour of dried chillies. You can use other variants like sambal belacan or sambal tumis to give these pancakes a nice kick.

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By using potato starch and soda water, we managed to get the crispiest kimchi pancake yet. And as for the oysters, you can get frozen oyster meat, perfect for this style of local fried oysters, at FairPrice and Amazon Fresh. They are surprisingly cheap, costing between $3.95 to $7 for a 300g packet. Quite yummy too — briny, juicy and fresh.

The resulting dish is super satisfying. You get the flavour and crunch of a good kimchi pancake with delicious fried oysters given spice and flavour thanks to the sambal and zippy freshness of a spritz of lime juice.

The ingredients for this dish are now staples in our pantry because this is a recipe that we’ll be whipping up time and again. It certainly helps that it is so quick and easy to put together.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

Dry ingredients:

40g plain flour

40g potato starch

¼ tsp baking soda

a pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:

2 tbsp kimchi juice (this is the liquid in your jar or packet of kimchi)

70g soda water

1 tbsp sambal chilli (we used Singlong Sambal Chilli Prawn)

4 tbsp oil

2 shallots, finely sliced

2 stalks spring onions, finely sliced

60g cup kimchi, roughly chopped

1 tbsp sambal chilli

10 small oysters

Half a calamansi lime

Dipping sauce:​​​​​​​

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp rice vinegar

A drop of sesame oil

1 bird’s eye chilli, finely sliced (optional)

1. Make the sauce first. Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

2. Start making pancakes. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients.

4. Pour wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir to mix. This will yield a thickish batter. A few small lumps in the batter are fine.

5. Place oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. A minute later, when the oil is hot (its surface will start to shimmer slightly), pour half the batter into the pan, making sure to spread it across the entire surface of the pan.

6. Distribute the shallots, half of the spring onions and half of the kimchi over the surface of the batter. Use spatula to press them into the batter while it is still a little raw.

7. Pour over the rest of the batter, then top with remaining spring onions and kimchi. Cook for about 3 mins or until the bottom half of the pancake is golden and crisp.

8. Flip pancake and cook for another 3 mins. After a minute of cooking, or when the batter is completely set, check the underside of the pancake to ensure that it isn’t burning. Cook till the bottom side of the pancake is crisp and golden and transfer to a rack to cool.

9. Place the same pan over medium-low heat. Add the sambal and oysters and stir-fry vigorously for a minute, or until the oysters are just cooked. Spritz the juice of the lime half over the oysters and give them one last stir. Turn off the heat.

10. Cut the pancake into wedges and transfer to a plate. Pour the fried oysters over the pancake and garnish with the rest of the spring onions. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce on the side.

Photos: Kelvin Chia/8 Days

All photos cannot be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg​​​​​​​