Potato cakes with kimchi & cheddar cheese

Winter

Eating something hot and powerful in the morning can help to kick your day into action. It can get the blood pumping around your body and wake up your mouth and mind. Kimchi is a traditional Korean preparation made by salting and fermenting cabbage in a seriously punchy paste made from chilli powder, garlic, ginger and a little fermented shrimp or fish sauce. I love it with something as familiar and simple as a crisp potato cake – the delicate creamy potato within tames the kimchi’s lion.

Serves 2

Ingredients

450g (1lb) floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or King Edward, peeled and cut into 3–4cm (1¼–1½in) cubes
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
300g (10½oz) readymade kimchi
75g (2½oz) Cheddar cheese, grated
1 or 2 pinches of sweet paprika
fresh chilli, thinly sliced (optional)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring the potatoes to the boil in a large pan of salted water and cook for 20–30 minutes, or until they are nice and tender. Then, drain them in a colander and leave them there for 15 minutes to allow the steam to evaporate.

Tip the potatoes into a bowl and mash them really well. Season the mash with salt and pepper and form into two firm cakes.

Heat the grill to hot.

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the potato cakes and fry for 4–5 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden. Add the kimchi to the pan and turn once or twice to warm through. Scatter over the grated cheese and place the whole pan under the grill for 2–3 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and popping. Remove the pan and divide the potato cake and kimchi, and all the delicious crisp and soft melted cheese equally between two warm plates. Finish with a pinch of paprika and a few slivers of chilli, if you like an extra dose of heat.

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