Kimchee Crackling

What is better than kimchee? Deep fried kimchee, of course. We made ramp kimchee cracklings years ago and until recently we had left well enough alone. When asked to resurect the crispy bites we happily revisited the technique. Since we did not have any ramp kimchee on hand, we reached for the next best thing, true kimchee. We pureed the kimchee into a paste and then added an equal amount of tapioca flour by weight. Once a dough was formed we rolled it out, steamed it and dried it to produce the shiny cracker pictured. When this cracker is broken into pieces and dropped into hot oil it puffs and resembles true cracklings. The flavor captures the essence of kimchee in a light and crispy texture, which slowly dissolves on the palate. We paired the kimchee crackling with grass fed beef, though they do just fine by themselves as a snack or even as a vehicle for carrying a bright and clean fish tartare.