These Korean-inspired sausage rolls use kimchi and Asian pear to keep the filling light while adding sweetness and spice.Tara O'Brady/The Globe and Mail
My aunt Mary wasn't a blood relation but, being a good friend of my maternal grandparents, she was part of my family since before I was born. Aunty Mary was a reed of a woman, tall, with pale strawberry blond hair and skin that smelled of Yardley's English Rose. She always had a snack to offer, sausage rolls being a constant.
Eaten cold from the fridge, they left a slightly waxy film of fat on the top of your mouth that was somehow oddly comforting. Hot from the oven, they were a toothsome combination of crisp exterior and succulence within. Ever since, I've been a fan.
With a eye on entertaining in the near future, I turn again to the reliable roll, but with a (not at all traditional) Korean approach. The result borrows from bibimbap, mandu and bulgogi – combining ground beef and kimchi, Asian pear and gochujang – all in a puff-pastry packaging.
The downfall of many a sausage roll is when the filling is irredeemably dense. Here, the pear and kimchi break up the texture, while also lending sweetness, spice and profound savoriness.
For dipping, I go the easy route with a dump-and-stir sauce of vinegar tempering a honeyed chili base.
The sprouts on the plate might look like frippery, but they are far from it. I like to include a pinch when I pick up my sausage roll, as the sharp greens deliver a contrasting freshness to each bite.
Kimchi Beef Sausage Rolls
1 tbsp neutral oil
1 small, sweet onion, finely diced
1 small Asian pear, cored and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Medium-grain kosher salt, as needed
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup (85 g) napa cabbage kimchi squeezed of its juice, minced
2 tsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp gochujang (Korean hot chili paste), plus more for brushing
Generous pound (475 g) ground beef, medium fat
Flour, for the work surface
1 lb (455 g) frozen all-butter puff pastry, thawed as per package instruction
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp water
For the sauce and to serve
2 tbsp gochujang (Korean hot chili paste)
2 tbsp brown rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey, or to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
Water, as needed
Toasted sesame seeds
Peppery sprouts (cress, mustard, radish or arugula)
Method
Warm the oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, pear and garlic, along with a good pinch of kosher salt. Sauté, stirring often, until the onion and pear are soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Scrape everything into a good-sized bowl. Sprinkle over the cornstarch, then stir to combine. Mix in the kimchi, tamari, sesame oil, gochujang, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside to cool. Once at room temperature, gently fold in the ground beef. If possible, cover and refrigerate for a few hours to give the flavours a chance to sink into the meat.
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a half sheet pan or rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. If the puff pastry isn’t already portioned, divide block in half. Roll one piece into a rough 10-by-10-inch square (25 by 25 cm) on a lightly floured work surface. With a sharp knife, cut the square in half horizontally. Paint a thin line of gochujang 1/4 inch away from one of the long sides. Take 1/4 of the meat mixture and form a sausage shape on top of the chili paste. Pull the pastry up and over the sausage, encasing it tightly; either tuck the open end under the roll or brush the top side of the pastry with egg wash and press the two sides together to make a long frill. Move the entire roll to the prepared sheet pan. Repeat process of shaping the rolls with the remaining pastry and beef mixture. Reserve the remaining egg wash. Pop all the rolls in the freezer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Once firmed up, if you’ve shaped the rolls with side frills, crimp these with the tines of a floured fork. Brush the rolls with the egg wash, mark decoratively with shallow slashes, then portion each roll into 6 pieces. Space the bundles evenly across the sheet pan, and bake in the preheated oven until puffed and golden, and the filling is hot all the way through, 25 minutes. Tan the rolls under a hot broiler, for a chestnut finish, if desired.
While the rolls bake, make the sauce. Stir together the gochujang, vinegar, honey and sesame oil. Thin with water to your desired consistency – I like it so it coats the back of the spoon, but not thickly.
Serve the rolls hot, with the toasted sesame seeds, sprouts and the sauce drizzled on top and extra offered alongside.
Note: Ground pork can be used in place of the beef, but be warned, the kimchi and gochujang will stain the filling pink.
Unbaked rolls freeze brilliantly and can be baked from frozen. Simply add a few minutes to their time in the oven.