Fermented foods are an excellent source of good bacteria that can help to keep your digestive system in tip-top condition. That’s why we have made them the focus of our latest healthy lifestyles article (which you can read here). But dolloping a pile of cold and tangy preserved vegetables on the side of your main meal isn’t to everyone’s taste, even if we know that it will do our insides some good!

With that in mind, this month’s recipe incorporates fermented veg into a light and delicious warm meal. It uses kimchi, which is both tasty and a fantastic way of preserving leftover any radish, carrots and cabbage you may have in your fridge. If you want to try making your own kimchi at home, this is a great recipe to follow. But if you’re short on the required ingredients, the DBT currently has an offer with Loving Foods via PerkJam where you can receive 15% off kimchi and other fermented foods when you buy online. 

Makes 2-3 pancakes

Ingredients

70g plain flour

1 tbsp cornflour

½ tsp baking powder

Pinch of sea salt

1 egg

1 tbsp vegetable oil

150g of chopped kimchi plus 1 tbsp of juice from the jar

Method

In a jug, whisk together the plain flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt. Add the egg, vegetable oil and four tbsp of cold water and mix to make a batter.

Next, fold the kimchi and juice into the batter.

Heat a splash of oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium–high heat. Add the pancake batter, pushing it out with a spatula so that the pancake batter is no higher than 1cm tall.

Cook for a couple of minutes until the bottom of the pancake is golden brown and the top just starts to set, then turn it over and cook for a few more minutes until both sides are browned and crisp.

Serve immediately. You can top yours with any sauce of your choosing and a sprinkle of thinly sliced spring onions.

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food.