Rice cakes, Kimchi and Salmon

This is definitely not authentic Korean food, and I hope I am not angering anyone by sharing this. We love this combination, and, honestly, it is so easy and hands-off, that we make it often, even on weekdays. By the time the veggie pancakes from our favorite Korean place are delivered, we have a very taste dish, ready to enjoy.

This recipe relies heaily on ingredients I am not making myself, namely the kimchi and the tteok. You can find these in any Asian grocery store.

Couple or quick notes: If you have fresh tteok available, feel free to sub it in, skipping the soaking, adding it straight into the kimchi and tomato mixture.

Also, once the fish is added, the cooking time varies a good bit, depending on the thickness of your filet. If you are subbing shrimp for the salmon, cooking time will be 2 - 15 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp. You could probably also make this with extra firm tofu, too. Slice the blocks into thick slices and press them down into the tomato-kimchi mixture so they bake and absorb all of the yummy sauce.

Rice cakes, Kimchi and Salmon

Yield: 5 - 7 servings

Ingredients

1 package shelf-stable vacuum-packed Tteok (Korean rice cakes)

3 cups prepared kimchi

1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes in juice

salt and pepper, to taste

2 - 2.5 pounds salmon filets, skin on (or sub in large shrimp)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Pour tteok into a bowl with warm water. Let soak for up to 3 hours. Drain well before using.

When ready to cook, heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a 9 x 11 pan, combine the tteok, kimchi and canned tomato. Mix well. Stir in one canful of water. Stir well and season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 - 45 minutes or until the rice cakes are tender.

Once cakes are tender, remove foil, and carefully stir the mixture. Lay the salmon skin-side down. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Slide the pan back into the oven and bake for an additional 15 - 20 minutes, or until the fish is cooked to your liking. Note: I prefer my fish to be more on the rare side, so will remove the pan from the oven when the fish is still quite moist in the middle. Then I'll loosely cover the pan with the foil, and let it sit for another 5 minutes.

Serve with Yachaejjon (Korean veggie pancakes), cucumber or your favorite salad.

Enjoy!