Sauerkraut pancakes with fermented chilli hot sauce

These sauerkraut pancakes make an ideal speedy breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you don’t have any sauerkraut on hand, it can be substituted with spinach or a similar leafy greens. The herbs can also be replaced with extra sauerkraut or green vegetables.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  2

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 120 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs, separated
• 150 ml milk
• 60 g unsalted butter, melted
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• salt and black pepper
• 200 g sauerkraut
• ⅓ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
• ⅓ cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 4 spring onions, finely chopped
• olive oil, for drizzling
• 60 g mixed salad leaves
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp fermented chilli hot sauce (recipe below) or Sriracha

Fermented chilli hot sauce

Makes about 350 ml

• 1 cup (250 ml) fermented chilli paste (recipe below)
• 1 large garlic clove
• 2 tbsp honey
• ½ cup (125ml) vegetable oil

Fermented chilli paste

Makes about 1½ cups

• 500 g large red chillies
• 1½ tbsp salt
• ½ tsp raw sugar

If you are making the fermented chilli hot sauce, you will need to allow 4 days for the chillies to ferment and an extra 15 minutes of preparation time.

Instructions

1. For the fermented chilli paste, wash the chillies and slice the stems off. Give them a rough chop and mix with the salt and sugar in a bowl. Leave them to cure for about 1 hour and then blend into a fine purée. Transfer the mixture to a sterilised 1-litre jar. It will only fill the jar a third of the way, but it needs plenty of room to breathe. Cover with muslin (cheesecloth) or a clean kitchen cloth held in place by a rubber band or string, and leave on a shelf out of direct sunlight for 4 days. The juice will separate from the purée, so give it a mix each day. Once ready, transfer to a smaller airtight jar and refrigerate. It will keep for at least a month.

2. For the fermented chilli hot sauce, place the fermented chilli paste, garlic and honey in a blender. Start the blender and gradually increase the speed. Slowly pour in the oil and season to taste with salt. This sauce will keep for weeks in the fridge. If it sits dormant for a while, the ingredients might start to separate a bit – just give it a good shake and it will come back to life.

3. Use a fine mesh strainer to sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the egg yolks, milk, butter and spices with a large pinch of salt and whisk to a smooth batter. Stir through the sauerkraut, herbs and spring onion. In a separate mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then use a spatula to gently fold into the pancake batter.

3. Heat a generous drizzle of oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Spoon in 2 tbsp pancake batter and press lightly into a 1 cm thick round pancake and continue with the remaining batter until the pan is filled (taking care not to crowd the pan). Cook for 2 minutes, or until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes, then flip and cook for a further 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter until complete.

4. Place the mixed salad leaves in a medium bowl and drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss gently to combine. Serve the sauerkraut pancakes with sour cream and fermented chilli sauce with the salad on the side.

Note

• My version of Sriracha chilli sauce only has a few ingredients, but the depth of flavour comes from the fermenting of the chilli. Use it as you would Sriracha – that is on a lot of things and particularly leftover pork-belly sandwiches. The fermented chilli paste is a handy staple to keep in the fridge too, it’s great with stir-fries or noodles or served on the side with barbecued chicken.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Ferment To Be

Watch the full episode here

G

Watch the full episode here

G