Jess Dennison’s kimchi, cheddar and onion fritters
Jess Dennison, the talented cook of Elliotts in Edinburgh, has written a brand-new cookbook. It’s an absolute triumph that celebrates her favourite midweek meals. Simple, tasty and down-to-earth cooking for any time of the week really, Jess’s Midweek Recipes is out now and we’re lucky enough to have a recipe to share with you. These kimchi, cheddar and onion fritters with honey and lemon might just be our favourite recipe of the lot.
From Jess: ‘My favourite toastie is a cheese and kimchi toastie, so that’s the inspiration for these quick fritters. Biting into a pool of molten cheese with the background tang of spicy kimchi really is something memorable, yet they’re a doddle to whip up. Simply served with rice or stuffed into a soft baguette (bành mi-style), this might just be my favourite recipe in this book.‘
INGREDIENTS
Makes 8 fritters – serves 2
- 1 large free-range egg
- ½ tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp water
- 100g flour, ideally gluten-free (I like Dove’s), but plain flour is fine too
- 175g kimchi (ideally the weight is made up of the fermented cabbage rather than the brine)
- ½ white onion
- 35g Cheddar cheese
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp runny honey
- ½ lemon
METHOD
- Begin by stirring the egg, soy sauce, water and flour into a thick batter in a large bowl. Roughly chop the kimchi, finely slice the onion and roughly chop the cheese into small, random chunks then stir into the batter to combine.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan on a high heat, then drop heaped tablespoons of batter into the pan to create 4 fritters (or however many fritters will comfortably fit in your pan). Fry for 2–3 minutes, then carefully flip each fritter and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
- Reduce the heat under the pan as it’ll be very hot by this point, then add another tablespoon of oil, and the remainder of the batter to create another 4 fritters. Again, fry for 2–3 minutes on each side.
- Divide the fritters between 2 plates, drizzle over the honey, squeeze over the lemon then tuck in.
NOTES
- If you fancied a larger meal, you could cook some rice and greens to have with the fritters. Steamed broccoli, sugar snaps and spinach can be dressed in ½ clove finely grated garlic mixed with 1½ tbsp soy sauce and ½ tbsp rice wine vinegar. Or shove the fritters in a baguette with some quick-pickled carrots and cucumber and spicy mayo for a sort of bánh mì situation. Delicious!
- It may seem weird asking for gluten-free flour in the batter mixture, but the lack of gluten makes the fritters extra crispy – just use plain flour if that’s all you have, they will still be fantastic.
- Different brands and batches of kimchi will have different strengths of heat so if your kimchi is on the mild side, you could always add some chilli powder or chilli flakes to the batter.
- You could grate the cheese on a box grater if you prefer, but I love the random pools of melted cheese you find in the fritters from small chunks of cheese.
Jess Elliot Dennison’s new book Midweek Recipes is out now, you can order it here. Image is Jess’s own from the book.
