Made my first kkaenip kimchi (preserved perilla leaves) from homegrown perilla. I love eating it and I’d never made it before! And it was so easy, with staples I have around the house.
Perilla has a very fragrant and bitter flavor. Like Thai basil and shiso got together but also went through an angry heartbreak. It’s particularly great with pork belly as it provides a nice balance to the fat & unctuousness.
The traditional way of eating is always with rice, as it is intentionally made to be salty and spicy to balance out rice.
You can peel off a leaf (or rip it in half if it’s very big) and put it on a spoonful of rice. You can also place it on a piece of lettuce, top it with a small bit of rice, add meat (again, pork is good here), and a dab of ssamjang (a dip made of fermented soy bean paste, garlic, sesame oil, etc). You fold the lettuce into a bite-sized bundle and pop it in your mouth.
This is the recipe I used! https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kkaennip-kimchi
If you ever want to cook Korean food, I always recommend Maangchi’s website and cookbooks first. Korean Bapsang is also really great!
(the other recipe in the video is Kkaennip-jangajji) Kkaennip (perilla leaves) are one of my favorite vegetables. They have a real good flavor, like mint, so they are used for so many Korean dishes. Whatever you make with kkaennip, it will be precious dish because you will have to take care of...
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