Chef Ji Hye Kim shares her recipe for Korean squash fritters to celebrate Chuseok.
I ’m still distressing about the fact that I did n’t grow up celebrating Chuseok . For Koreans , Chuseok , ourMid - Autumn Harvest Festivalthat falls on September 10 this year , is one of the crowing national holidays , marked by phratry assembly ( and the horrific dealings jam that back up Korean highways as the intact country seems to reach the road ) , hereditary tributes , and monumental amounts of feasting . But I did n’t know any of that as aKorean - Americankid in Virginia and Florida .
It was only when I moved to Seoul post - college that I got to observe Chuseok in my own mode . But as the child of Korean immigrants to the United States , my festivity looked a little different . I never had to model in bumper - to - bumper traffic to one of my parent ’ hometown , nor did the adult female in my family have to moil endlessly in the kitchen — drudgery that the holiday still alas entail for many .
alternatively , I take the practically empty Seoul subway to visit an aunty for a intimate , mostly stock - buy feast over a low table heap with the beauty I now recognize as Chuseok classics : a colourful array of jeon , savory fritters that Koreans make from any bit of veggie and protein ; songpyeon , a chewy , glutinous rice patty stuffed with sweet cerise dome , chestnuts , sesame seeds , and other fillings ; and the usual kimchi and steaming bowls of rice and soup .
Chef Ji Hye Kim|Photo by EE Berger
Chef Ji Hye Kim , proprietor of the Ann Arbor , Michigan - based restaurantMiss Kim , make out something about improvised , untypical Chuseok celebrations herself .
“ Chuseok used to be a village - panoptic celebration , with food shared between neighbors who would all come out for ganggangsullae , ” she say , bring up to a traditional Korean terpsichore that adult female perform in a orotund forget me drug under the full harvest moon . “ There was always a mint of food for thought , with days of prep and hours of cooking”—and caboodle of work force to pitch in with labor .
But Ann Arbor is a prospicient way from the idyllic Korean countryside , so Kim ( who grew up in an urban flat complex in bustle Seoul ) makes her restaurant the Chuseok hub for her community when the vacation hits .
Hobak Jeon|from my point of view/Shutterstock
“ Before the pandemic , we ’d have family - style feasts with huge disc of Chuseok food , ” says Kim , explaining that her restaurant has adapted since then by offer ready - to - eat up meals for at - home diner and adding vacation specialties like torantang ( a savory , wacky edda soup ) to the card . For this year ’s Chuseok , she even learn a late cooking class online for New York ’s 92nd Street Y featuring smasher like neobiani — a luxuriant , thick baseball swing of kick . “ It ’s what moms make , not the kind of thing you ’d get at a restaurant , ” she recalls fondly .
In her off hour , Kim prefers to ask in a acquaintance over for a “ mini - Chuseok celebration ” to apportion the holiday over fresh fried jeon that incorporates the amplitude of Michigan ’s seasonal produce — from chestnut mushrooms to celery leaves to varieties of summertime squash .
“ I feel keen about make jeon , a dish that ’s so much about solemnization , for just the two of us , ” she says . “ I like taking the fear to make every single bite of jeon delicious . ” And for the record , Kim has no problem with families that prefer to serve entrepot - bribe songpyeon rice cakes for afters , especially when frying up jeon à la minute .
fry each jeon to rate and eating it piping spicy reminds Kim of her category ’s Chuseok celebration back in South Korea when she was a child . In Kim ’s family , as in many Korean home , the women would pass an integral day fry huge deal of jeon for the multiple day of Chuseok , which they ’d stash away in a basketful then reheat at mealtime . “ But I always liked them right off the pan , ” Kim says with a mischievous smiling , “ so I ’d linger to try and get the hottest ones . ”
The savory fritters come in dateless forms , and impart themselves well to extemporise . grow up , Kim ’s Chuseok favorites included sanjeok jeon , which layer finger’s breadth - length strips of beef and vegetable on skewers ; saengseon jeon , battered whitefish cut ; and hobak jeon , battered slice of aehobak , a Korean variety of summer squelch similar to courgette .
She shares her hobak jeon recipe , which she loves to adjust for different eccentric of summer squash that are in time of year in Ann Arbor near Chuseok . “ Small patty pan squash is fun , because when you trim back it in half , it look like a little UFO , and in the Michigan farmers ’ markets , I reckon for smaller zucchini , which be given to have few seeds and less water , ” Kim explains .
When cooking for yourself or just one other diner , as Kim does during the holiday , she recommend eating hobak jeon flop off the genus Pan before the squash vine slices have a chance to turn soggy from their natural water content . But if you ’re cooking for a larger group , Kim ’s tip is to salt the squash rackets slices in procession to draw out water , which she lightly dabs off before dredge and fry the jeon . It ’s all about achieving that gross light from expertly fried eggs slugger and tender , delicately flavored squash rackets .
Kim credit her female parent , who reckon herself the best Captain James Cook in the family , with hone her palate , although the matriarch guarded her own recipes fiercely .
“ What she taught me was custom , what in reality tastes unspoiled , ” Kim notes . “ What I learned from her was the clean taste of homemade food . ”
Ji Hye Kim’s Hobak Jeon Recipe
Yield:4 side - dish servings
Ingredients:• ¼ cup master jeon dry hitter ( see below)• 3 large eggs• ½ teaspoon saeujeot ( Korean salted ferment baby shrimp / can replace with fish sauce or soy sauce)• 1 tablespoon finely chopped scallions• Pinch of new ground dim pepper• 2 pints zucchini or squash , slice into ¼ in pieces• 2 tablespoons neutral prepare oil like canola
Directions:1 . Put the master jeon wry slugger onto a plate or a cookie sheet.2 . amalgamate the eggs , saeujeot , scallions and contraband pepper in a mixing bowl and whisk well to combine.3 . Coat the sliced zucchini in the master jeon dry batter , then disperse off any excess batter with a brush.4 . Dip the dusted zucchini slash in the egg mixture.5 . station a nonstick pan over intermediate heat and add oil . When the pan is hot , place the zucchini piece that have been dip in the egg mixture in the heated up oil . You should hear a subtle sizzle.6 . When the bollock mixture at the edges of the courgette slice appear set , turn the courgette . Cook until prosperous Robert Brown on both sides.7 . Place the zucchini onto a cooling single-foot or a biscuit sheet cover with newspaper towels to drain excess cooking oil.8 . Serve while blistering and love !
Master Jeon Dry BatterYield : Many batches of jeon . This can be commix in progression and kept in the buttery as a staple fibre .
Ingredients:• 1 cupful all - purpose flour• ½ cup rice flour ( or substitute cornstarch or potato starch / do not practice mochiko or honeyed rice flour)• 1 teaspoonful baking powder• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
