Kimchi & Chorizo Rice Cakes

After leaving Wild Serai's Malaysian brunch, we went along to K-Mart. New Malden is famed for its Korean restaurants and supermarkets, so while we were there we did a little light shopping. Rows of fascinating produce were poked and prodded at by us, packets turned over to try and decipher what they were. I came away with a tub of kimchi to supplement my depleted stocks, and some fresh rice cakes from the fridge section.

Called 'duk', these are made with glutinous rice flour. There are hundreds of different types, all in different sizes and shapes. Chewy in texture, they are used in soups and stir fries, sometimes also made sweet as desserts.

I decided to go for a simple stir fried dish. Kimchi was the main ingredient, but I added some cooking chorizo for a bit of garlicky sweetness from the pork fat. A Korean Spanish fusion, if you will. After being plunged into boiling water the rice cakes turn seriously sticky and will stick to your sieve but they have a gloriously chewy, squidgy quality. They don't taste of anything, but for textural interest, they're brilliant. Seriously filling though.

Kimchi & Chorizo Rice Cakes

Serves 3

1 bag of Korean rice cakes, in pillow shapes
3 tbsp cabbage kimchi, chopped roughly
1/2 tbsp of chilli bean paste
3 small cooking chorizo - hot - I used Brindisa
1 yellow onion, sliced into thin half moons
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tsp sugar
1 courgette, cut into batons
2 spring onions, sliced diagonally
A small handful of coriander leaves, chopped roughly
1 tbsp sesame oil
100mls chicken stock

In a pan, boil some water and add the rice cakes. Simmer for 3 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water. Toss in the sesame oil.

In a wok, heat up a little oil and add the cooking chorizo, released of their skins and chopped roughly. Fry gently to release the oils. Add the yellow onion and fry gently until softened. Add the kimchi, garlic and chilli bean paste. Fry well for a few minutes, then add the rice wine. Fry for a further 10 minutes until the courgette is tender. Add the rice cakes and the stock and cook or a few more minutes. The dish will thicken with the addition of the rice cakes. Take off the heat, stir in the spring onion and coriander and serve immediately.