Tangpyeongchae

Ingredients

• 400g block of mung bean jelly (cheongpo-muk)
• 120g beef sirloin or top round
• 150g mung bean sprouts
• 100g water dropwort (minari), or watercress
• 2 eggs
• 1 sheet roasted seaweed (gim)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1.5 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 1.5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp neutral oil

Before you cook

• Cut the mung bean jelly into batons about 6cm long and 1cm square.
• Slice the beef into fine matchsticks and season it with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, half the garlic and the pepper.
• Pick the tails off the mung bean sprouts if you want the classic court finish.
• Trim the water dropwort and cut it into 5cm lengths.
• Separate the eggs into two bowls, keeping the whites and yolks apart.
• Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, the vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, the remaining sesame oil, the remaining garlic and half the sesame seeds into a dressing.

Steps

1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and salt it lightly.
2. Drop in the mung bean jelly batons for 30 seconds so they soften and turn translucent, then lift them into cold water.
3. Blanch the mung bean sprouts in the same water for 2 minutes and lift them into cold water.
4. Blanch the water dropwort for 20 seconds and lift it into the cold water as well.
5. Drain everything thoroughly and squeeze the greens gently so no water is left clinging.
6. Wipe a non-stick pan with oil, set it over low heat and cook the beaten yolks in a thin sheet for 2 minutes until just set.
7. Cook the whites the same way, then cut both sheets into fine strips.
8. Raise the heat under the pan and stir-fry the seasoned beef for 2 minutes until it is cooked through, then let it cool.
9. Toast the seaweed sheet briefly over the flame or in the dry pan, then crush it into coarse flakes.
10. Put the jelly, sprouts, dropwort and beef in a wide bowl and pour over the dressing.
11. Toss with your hands, lifting rather than stirring, so the jelly batons do not break.
12. Pile the salad on a shallow serving plate and scatter over the egg strips, the seaweed flakes and the remaining sesame seeds.
13. Serve straight away, while the jelly is still cold and the greens are still bright.