Friday 18 June 2010

Breakfast Club #1: Asian Challenge - Baby Clam Rolled Omelette with Ssamjang

Having been challenged to create an Asian breakfast via Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Sarah from Fingers and Toes, as part of The Breakfast Club, here is my entry.

At first I was going to make Nasi Lemak, but left with facing a jar of left over baby clams and wondering what to do with them, the idea hit me to make an omelette based on the oyster omelettes found all over East Asia. Instead of serving it with the usual chilli sauces, I've served it here with the highly addictive condiment, ssamjang, a Korean mixed chilli-bean paste usually made up of doenjang, garlic, gochujang. And I mean addictive - when ever The Tallest and I go to our favourite Korean restaurant, Kimchee in Golders Green, the waitress always smiles knowingly when ever we ask for more.

Baby Clam Rolled Omelette with Ssamjang

Serves 1 - 310 Calories per serving

Ingredients:

2 medium eggs
50g shelled, cooked baby clams
2 spring onions, finely chopped
50g carrot, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp groundnut oil
1 large sheet of roasted seaweed (sushi nori is fine)
a heaped tablespoon of ssamjang (I use the Sunchang branded stuff, you can find it in green tubs at Korean grocers and in China Town)
gem lettuce leaves to serve

Method:

1. Whisk the eggs with the clams, onions, carrot, garlic, salt and pepper.

2. In a large, heavy based pan, heat the oil gently, keeping it on a low heat.

3. Slowly pour in the egg mixture, making sure it spreads evenly. It's very important that you keep the heat low, you want to cook this gently.

4. When it has started to set, place the sheet of seaweed on top of the omelette.

5. Using a spatula, carefully roll up the omelette in the pan.

6. Take the omelette out of the pan and rest for a couple of minutes, this will set it a little more so you can slice it easier. Slice into 2cm thick pieces.

7. Serve cross-section side up and eat it by placing the omelette into the lettuce leaf, dolloping on a little ssamjang, rolling it up and eating it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great idea to use sushi nori with an omelette!
I may borrow that one.
Looks great :)

Mer said...

Tastes great too, I'm thinking of using it on the outside next time and making omelette nori packages, so I can eat them on the run. :)

Glad you liked it!

Catherine said...

This dish looks beautiful :) I must try this ssamjang!

Mer said...

Seriously, it's good. It's all the right hits of umami. I use a mild version, but you can get really hot ones too.