Kimchi and Gruyère Rice Fritters

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, separated
• 80 g green beans, finely chopped
• 250 g wild rice
• 90 g plain flour
• 75 g onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves, crushed
• 200 ml milk
• 1 /2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 800 ml sunflower oil, for frying
• 2 tbsp coriander, chopped
• 500 g good-quality classic kimchi
• 80 g gruyère cheese, diced
• 2 tbsp sesame seed, toasted
• 2 lemons, juiced and cut into wedges
• Pickled cucumber, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt and cook for about 6 minutes, until soft, golden and just starting to catch at the edges — that catching is flavour, not failure.
2. Stir in the crushed garlic and cook for 30 seconds, no more, just until fragrant. Don't let it colour past pale gold — burnt garlic turns the whole batter bitter and you can't take it back.
3. Pour in the milk, drop the heat to medium and let it simmer gently for 5 minutes, until very slightly thickened. Pull off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the cooked wild rice, egg yolks and the ½ tsp salt. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until properly cold — a cold batter holds its shape in the oil instead of slumping into a pancake.
5. While it chills, set aside 160g of kimchi for serving. Squeeze the remaining kimchi through a sieve to extract 3 tablespoons of liquid (keep that — it's seasoning) and roughly chop the drained solids.
6. Fold the chopped kimchi, reserved kimchi liquid, green beans, coriander, gruyère, sesame seeds and flour into the cold rice mixture, with a good crack of black pepper. Taste the batter now — between the kimchi and the cheese there's plenty of salt, but it should taste seasoned, not flat. Adjust if it needs it.
7. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold them through the rice mixture in two additions, keeping as much air as you can — this is what gives the fritters their lift.
8. Heat the sunflower oil in a large, deep saucepan to 175–180°C. Test it with a small spoonful of batter — it should sizzle steadily and rise within 5 seconds, not brown instantly.
9. Fry the fritters in batches of three, spooning in heaped tablespoons. Don't crowd the pan — too many at once and the oil temperature crashes, and you'll get greasy fritters instead of crisp ones. Turn once and fry for 3–4 minutes total, until deep golden all over. Lift onto kitchen paper and season with a pinch of salt while they're still glossy.
10. Pile the fritters onto a warm platter, spoon the reserved 160g kimchi alongside in a glossy mound, scatter over extra toasted sesame seeds, and tuck the lemon wedges in close — a generous squeeze of lemon juice over each fritter at the table cuts the richness and wakes the kimchi up.