Kimchi Pizza

Kimchi, a traditional Korean side dish of fermented Napa cabbage, is a garlicky, spicy ingredient in many popular Korean recipes. It often includes daikon radish, ginger and carrots.

Kimchi is not your usual pizza topping. But wow, it is a very good one, especially in combination with a sesame oil scented pizza dough, tomato sauce fragrant with garlic and ginger and lots of melted mozzarella cheese. Fusion cuisine at its finest.

Kimchi Pizza

Ingredients:

Sesame Oil Pizza Dough (recipe follows)
Garlic Ginger Tomato Sauce (recipe follows)
Kimchee Pork Topping (recipe follows)
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
1 lb shredded mozzarella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500℉. Place pizza stone or cookie sheet in the oven to preheat.

2. For each pizza, roll the pizza dough into a round or rectangular shape.

3. Remove preheated pizza stone from oven. Carefully lift dough onto the stone.

4. Spread about 3/4 cup tomato sauce over dough.

5. Spread a heaping cup of kimchee pork mixture evenly on top of sauce.

6. Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of pizza and finish with a sprinkling of green onion and cilantro.

7. Bake at 500℉ until cheese is melted and lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and then wait 3 minutes before cutting. Slice and serve.

Makes 4 pizzas. Can be halved easily.

Sesame Oil Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and sesame oil with the water in a 5-qt stand mixer bowl with the dough hook attached.

2. Mix in the flour without kneading.

3. Cover dough with a tea towel and allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours or until doubled in size. Divide dough into 4 equal portions. The dough is now ready to use or it can be refrigerated for up to 12 days.

Makes enough dough (1 pound each) for 4 pizza crusts. Recipe is easily doubled or halved.

Garlic Ginger Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
3 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons honey
1 (28 oz) can tomatoes

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.

2. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes to release their flavors. Add sake and cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes and honey and bring to a simmer. Use a hand blender or food processor to purée all the ingredients into a smooth sauce.

Kimchee Pork Topping

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 lb of Korean pork belly (samgyupsahl), cut into small pieces (Uncured bacon can be substituted)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
4 cups of kimchi, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Heat sesame and vegetable oils in a fry pan over medium heat. Add pork belly, ginger and garlic. Cook until some fat is rendered from pork, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes.

2. Add kimchi and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes, until kimchee becomes somewhat translucent.

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