Kimchi Pizza

Kimchi has been in my life a lot lately because I wanted to eat up the batch I had before it got past its fresh and crispy stage. I also wanted to make room for my third (and possibly my best) batch. I've made a simple stew (kinda like an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink stew), fried rice, and even pizza.



Kimchi is not an ingredient I would have imagined using in pizza, but it actually works really well. It had been on my mind for a few weeks because the idea just popped into my head when I was trying to come with different ways to eat kimchi. So I went Googling and I'm lucky I found this one recipe. This is exactly what I had in mind: an all-Korean pizza. I have seen pictures of pizzas in Korea where they have kimchi and cheese on top which I thought was weird so I kept looking until I came across this one. The pork belly adds a nice meaty texture, but you don't have to add it if you want to keep this meatless. Bacon would probably work but keep in mind that bacon is a lot saltier than pork belly.



This was definitely a successful cooking experiment. I didn't think this could go wrong anyway because they are all ingredients that I'm a big fan of. My cooking experiments this weekend, however, are another story. To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I tried to cook with Guinness as much as I could. I made Guinness pancakes (this recipe with half milk/half Guinness), which weren't too bad. Then for dinner, I made Guinness mashed potatoes and Shepherd's Pie meatballs with Guinness gravy. Bitter is all I can say. My boyfriend said it was fine, but he could have just been saying that. He was nice enough to keep eating it though. Next time, we'll have to make Guinness brownies instead so that most of it is baked out! Enjoy this pizza meanwhile.

Kimchi Pizza
From No Recipes

For the sauce
1 tbsp Korean red pepper paste
Kimchi juice
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed

For the pizza
1 lb of dough
Flour
Cornmeal
1/2 cup kimchi, squeezed of excess juice and chopped
4 very thin slices of pork belly, cut into squares
1 scallion, sliced thin on the bias

Put the oven rack in the upper middle position, put a pizza stone (or baking sheet) on it and preheat to 475F.

To make the sauce, just mix the gochujang with enough kimchi juice so it’s thin enough to easily spread (but not watery). Add the sesame oil and garlic and stir to combine.

On a well floured surface, roll the dough out until it is less than 1/4″ thick. Dust a pizza peel (or wooden cutting board) with course ground cornmeal and lay the dough on top. Use a spoon to spread the sauce on the dough. Top with chopped kimchi and sliced pork belly.

Gently transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone and bake until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle with scallions, slice and enjoy!