Kitchen tips and kimchi pancakes with Jesse Jenkins, founder of Another Day in Paradise
Jesse, a Los Angeles native, says his first love was food. As he puts it, he “grew up on the restaurant floor” with his mother, who worked for the chef Nancy Silverton and at La Brea Bakery. As a young adult, Jesse became immersed in the south Californian restaurant scene, training as a chef and working in kitchens across Los Angeles. “LA has a really diverse food community,” he says, recalling his experience working alongside chefs from Mexico and Guatemala. Whether Jesse was employed at a French restaurant or an American bistro, Hispanic chefs would invariably head up the team, using the ingredients on offer to make family-style staff meals inspired by the food of their home countries. “The most I learned about being creative with food was from those chefs,” Jesse adds.
Drawing inspiration from the Chinese, Korean and Mexican cuisines that make up the melting pot that is Los Angeles, Jesse’s own recipes are both inventive and irreverent, messy and mouth-watering. On Another Day in Paradise’s Instagram, for instance, Jesse has previously shared videos of himself concocting cheesy ramen, sriracha and lemon gambas, and extra-crispy Baja fish tacos. As he explains, his approach is about “not getting caught up in the rules and boundaries of cooking. I really enjoy recipes where there’s space to make mistakes.”
For Jesse, the kitchen is truly the heart of his home, which he shares with his wife and two children. “It’s where we spend most of our time as a family,” he explains. “It’s great for the kids to see how food is being made and to learn about ingredients.” He describes the airy, open space as “a total dream” and was instantly drawn to its stainless-steel surface, which the previous owner – also a photographer – had added to the space. “It’s very easy to clean; it doesn’t matter if something spills on it,” he says. It also reflects natural light beautifully, making it the perfect backdrop for his Another Day in Paradise shoots. “I really like the way it looks,” he says. We couldn’t agree more.
“Kimchi pancakes were one of my favorite snacks growing up in LA. The neighbourhood I lived in had a really big Korean community, so I grew up eating at Korean friends’ houses and one of my favourite things was this kimchi pancake. It reminds me of home and my family loves it. It’s also very easy to make. You can do it with store-bought kimchi or you can make your own.”
Makes 1-2 pancakes
For the pancake
250g well-fermented kimchi
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 courgette, thinly sliced
4 spring onions (green part only)
100ml water
2tbsp kimchi brine
1tbsp gochugaru (red-pepper flakes)
1tsp sugar
30g plain flour
30g cornflour
1tbsp rice flour (optional, it adds additional crunch)
2tbsp oil
For the spring-onion slaw
4-6 spring onions, julienned and soaked in ice water
1tbsp toasted sesame seeds
For the dressing
1tbsp sesame oil
1tsp soy sauce
1tbsp rice vinegar
1tbsp sugar (or to taste)
For the dip
1tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp rice vinegar
1tbsp sugar (or to taste)
Add all the pancake ingredients, except the oil, into a large bowl, saving some of the green spring onion. Gently mix until everything is combined. Add a splash of oil to a nonstick pan on medium heat. Ladle the mixture into the pan and make sure to spread it out as evenly as possible. Layer the reserved spring onion on top.
Cook until crisp, making sure to gently move the pancake around the pan as you go to prevent sticking. Flip and cook through and crispy on both sides.
Remove the spring onions from the ice water. Mix the ingredients for the dressing together and toss with the spring onions and sesame seeds. In another bowl, mix together the ingredients for the dip.
Garnish the pancake with spring-onion slaw. Serve with the dip and enjoy.
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