You will provably know by now that how much I love Perilla leaves. They are fragrant Korean herb and used in many Korean dishes.
I found some fresh Perilla leaves at Korean store last time I went. It has been over 2 weeks since and the leaves are still fresh and crisp, so I made a very simple dish to enjoy for a beautiful spring day in Argentina!
This is Pan fried Perilla leaves filled with pork and vegetables. It is called Kketnip Jeon (깻잎전) in Korea. I will call it “Perilla Leaves Dumplings”, because it looks like dumplings to me.
It is fragrant and tasteful dish that can be served as an appetizer, simple main dish to top over some rice, or as a side dish. You will fall in love at first bite!
Mince the pepper and carrot as fine as you can. Mini food processor comes in handy for this job!
Combine the vegetables, garlic, minced pork, and rice wine; season with salt and pepper…
…mix well.
Coat the front side of Perilla leaves with flour. You want your Perilla leaves slightly wet so that the flour can adhere to the leaves.
Depends on the size of the leaf, place a 1/2-1 tablespoonful of pork filling in the center.
Fold in half and press together. It is okay if the leaves won’t stick together completely.
Coat the dumplings all over with flour… It is still okay if your leaf doesn’t seal all the way.
Then coat with beaten egg. The egg will work like a glue to seal the filling to stay inside.
Fry in a hot oil over medium to med-low heat until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side.
Flip and brown the other side. Make sure you cook the filling inside completely.
Wasn’t it easy? Or not?
Like other many savory Korean pancakes and dumplings, you can serve this with a dipping sauce if you want. I added the generous amount of salt in the filling, so I didn’t need a dipping sauce. These dumplings with some rice went to my kid’s school as a lunch box and they loved it.
By the way this is a recipe that you can easily convert to gluten-free by changing the flour.
Enjoy~!
- 15-20 Perilla leaves, rinsed
- 1/2 lb minced pork
- 1/4-1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 carrot, diced
- 1/4 cup finely minced Asian chives or green onion
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- grapeseed oil for frying
- In a mini food processor, process the bell pepper and the carrot to mince finely.
- In a bowl, combine pork, minced vegetables, Asian chives (or green onion), garlic, rice wine, and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
- Coat the front side of Perilla leaf (the leaf should be just rinsed and slightly wet) with flour lightly. Place 1/2-1 tablespoon of pork filling in the center, fold the leaf to cover the filling and press the edge of the leaf to seal. It is okay if the leaf doesn’t seal completely. Coat the dumplings with the flour and then the egg.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the dumpling and fry until golden, about 3 minutes. Flip over and continue to fry another 3 minutes adding more oil if necessary. Make sure the filling inside is completely cooked. (you can tell by its firmness).
- Serve hot or at room temperature.
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