Jeon-Style Crayfish cakes

Well now, it has been an extremely long time since I last blogged. I put this down to a number of things.

• Working like a lunatic for months on end, most of which has been away from home. This makes for limited cooking and creative time.
• I’ve also lacked inspiration of late. Don’t get me wrong I’m still cooking when at home, it’s just that I’ve not done anything new for a while, sticking with old faves and the like to make the most of the time I have.
• There have been a couple of new items I’ve done and to be honest I couldn’t really be bothered to take pics and write about it.

Working in London does have benefits food wise, for instance, when time allows, we pay a visit to Smiths of Smithfield (John Torode no less) which is brilliant. Most of the time, however work decrees that we go somewhere closer to the office. None of my work compadres have the compunction to “go that little bit further” for good grub. So we tend to eat in the nearest chain. E.g Wagamamas. On a side issue, I have discovered that at least one of their dishes contains a factory made sauce. Wagamamas devotee’s still refute this. I however, know this to be true as I asked the waiter.

So in essence, rather than a perfect opportunity to experience gastronomic delights the time in London has lead to countless late evening meals which are restricted to the meagre expenses budget, all of which has moved me several steps closer to the official status of fat bloater.

So here I am a few months later, feeling the need to blog and armed with a couple of copies of Olive, I’ve made an extreme effort to get of my backside and get some stuff down. So you’d better bloody enjoy it

Jeon-Style Crayfish Cakes

Spotted these in Octobers Olive, in the Korean section. With my new found love of crayfish and the success of the “get to the fish man before the same bloody woman buys all his stock" mission, I gave them a go. Brilliant Oriental flavours going on, that go perfectly with the meaty crayfish 

The Cakes

Crayfish tails (or cooked prawns) 450g, coarsely chopped

1 egg Beaten

2 Spring onions Julienne

1 clove of Garlic Finely Chopped

Garlic Powder 1tsp

Onion Powder 1tsp ( I couldn’t find this so I used Onion Granules then crushed them)

White Pepper ¼ tsp

Glutinous Rice Flour 2 tbsp (Couldn’t find this either so I used ground rice)

Veg oil Tbsp for frying

Chives finely chopped for Garnish

Pinch of Sea Salt

Garlic-Pimento Glaze , dipping sauce thing

Red chilli bean paste 4tbsp (Again no joy with this so I used Sambal Oelek)

Rice wine vinegar 3 tbsp

Soy Sauce 3 tbsp

Granulated Sugar  3 tbsp

Garlic powder 2 tbsp

Garlic 2 cloves

Sping onions 2 chopped

Sesame oil 60 ml

In a food processor combine all the ingredients for the glaze, except for the oil. Blend well then gradually add the oil to emulsify the glaze. Ermmmm, well, I didn’t actually achieve the emulsification but it still tasted great so don’t worry if yours doesn’t either, who’s going to know. Transfer to the receptacle of your choice

Combine the Crayfish, egg, spring onions, garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and white pepper in a bowl. Mix well then add the rice flow, stirring well so that it doesn’t clump together. The mixture should be something like a thick batter with bits in it. I thought it was way to sloppy but when you start the cooking process you’ll realise this is fine

Heat a large non stick frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the veg oil, heat for a min then reduce heat to medium. Put Dollops of the mixture into the pan leaving about 2.5 cm between each cake. I think I made do with less room and they came out OK. The cakes should be about 1cm thick, cook for about 3-4 mins on each side until golden brown. You can make your cakes thicker if you want, you’ll just need to cook them for longer.

These make a great starter or light lunch and the glaze/dipping sauce lasts for ages if you stick it in a jar with a lid and keep it in the fridge