Korean Acorn Jelly with Chrysanthemum Leaf Salad (Dotorimuk)
A basic acorn jelly / Dotorimuk, served with gochugaru chili sauce and a salad of chrysanthemum leaves. You can scale the recipe for the dotorimuk in larger proportions as long as you use the same proportion of 1 part starch to 4 parts water.
Serves 4-6
1 1 quart mixing bowl or another mold for the jelly
Ingredients
Dotorimuk
½teaspoonsalt
½cupacorn starch
2cupswater
Dressing
1Tablespoonfreshly toasted sesame seedsplus more to garnish
1Tablespoonmaple syrupor 1 teaspoon sugar
2Tablespoonsgochugaru flakes
1Tablespoonground Szechuan peppercornsoptional
2large cloves of garlic
1inchpiece of ginger
2scallionssliced ¼ inch
¼cupsoy sauce
1teaspoonfish sauce or equivalentRed Boat brand is my standard
2Tablespoonssesame oil
Serving
Chrysanthemum leavestender clusters only, larger stems removed, about 2-3 oz
1ozscallionssliced ¼ inch
Small handful of finely julienned carrotabout 1 oz as a garnish
Fresh shiso leaveswhole if small or torn if large, to taste
Fresh lime juice or a dash of vinegarto taste
Instructions
Dotorimuk
Mix the water, starch and salt until completely dissolved, then simmer on medium heat until the mixture has darkened in color, and begins to drop from the whisk like thick whipped cream, about 10 minutes. When in doubt, cook it longer. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl lined with cling film, pour in the dotorimuk, cool, then cover and refrigerate until firm, preferably overnight.
Dressing
Grind the sesame seeds to coarse powder in a spice grinder. In a bowl, mix all ingredients except the garlic and ginger, then finely grate the garlic and ginger in the mix. The sauce will improve after sitting overnight.
Serving
To serve, then the dotorimuk into ½ inch slices or whatever size is convenient, then arrange a few on a plate, spooning some of the dressing over the top. Toss the greens with the carrot, scallion and shiso, season with a dash of fresh lime juice and a pinch of salt, arrange on top of the dotorimuk, garnish with the reserved sesame seeds and serve with chopsticks.
Notes
The Mold
I use a small mixing bowl here and it works great, but you can be creative with the mold you use, as well as the shapes you cut.