Growing up, kimchi was a part of my daily life.  As my father couldn’t survive a meal without it, it appeared daily at my dinner table, if not also lunch and breakfast.  The pungent smell was so much a part of my childhood that even now, when I smell it I think back to the happy days of being fed my mother’s good food and the carefree way in which I was able to enjoy food.  I loved kimchee back then and would ask to eat in non-traditional ways, like with fried chicken or pizza.  In fact, a Saturday ritual for our family was my mom making homemade pizza for the family; I would demand that she also put some kimchee on the table.  I’d take the big chunks of kimchi and place it on top of the pizza and just gobble down slice after slice.  It was the perfect pairing for me.

Enough to make 4 pizzas (you can make 2 immediately and then refrigerate remaining ingredients and make two more later – or simply cut the recipe in half if needed.)

Sesame Oil Pizza Dough (adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)

Makes 4 1lb loaves. This recipe is easily doubled or halved

2 3/4 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (I bought the Fleishman’s Yeast in a jar, and then stored it in my fridge after opening)

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar (I substituted 2 tablespoons of honey)

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in a 5-qt bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container or in the stand mixer with the dough hook attached.

Mix in the flour without kneading, using a large wooden spoon. (because of my hand problem, I did use my stand mixer with the dough hook. You do NOT need a stand mixer, just mix with a large wooden spoon.)

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature for about 2 hours. It will rise and get super big. You can use the dough at this point, or refrigerate and use over next 12 days.To make one pizza, pinch off a grapefruit sized piece of dough. When you do this, your dough will deflate. This is okay, as it will rise again later. Loosely cover and refrigerate the rest to use over the next 12 days.

Tomato Sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons minced ginger

3 tablespoons sake

2 tablespoons honey

1 28 oz can tomatoes

Heat a saucepan over medium heat.  Add oil and diced onions.  Cook until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.  Add garlic and ginger and cook for an additional 2 minutes, to release their flavors.  Add 3 tablespoons of sake and cook until sake coats the onions, another 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes and honey and bring to a simmer..  Use a hand blender and puree all the ingredients so that you have a smooth uniform sauce.  Alternatively you can use a regular blender or food processor to process the sauce.

Kimchee Pork Topping

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 lb of Korean pork belly (samgyupsahl), cut into small pieces (about 1/2 inch pieces) **you can substitute bacon if you wish, but it will increase salty factor considerably

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons minced ginger

4 cups of kimchi, roughly chopped

In a fry pan over medium heat, add both sesame and vegetable oil, pork belly ginger and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally rendering fat from pork belly about 4 minutes.  Add all of kimchi and continue to cook, until kimchi pieces have a slightly translucent quality, anywhere from 5-10 minutes, depending on the ripeness of your kimchee.  Remove from heat when translucency is met.

Assembly

1/2 cup scallions chopped

1/2 cup cilantro chopped

1 lb shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 500.  Place pizza stone OR an inverted cookie sheet in the oven to also preheat.

Take 1/4 of the dough and with a bit of flour begin working it into a flat shape.  I’ve tried stretching the dough but I have had the most luck getting the dough round and flat with a rolling pin.  Don’t worry about a perfectly round shape (I can’t do it) and instead focus on getting a nice even base.  (I don’t do this well all the time either.)

I assemble pizzas once they are in the oven because I am not a pizza master.  I open the oven and one by one lay down the necessary components.  First lay down the pizza dough.  Spread about 3/4 a cup of sauce all the way around the pizza.  Spread a heaping cup of kimchee pork mixture evenly on top.  Sprinkle 3/4 cup to 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top.  Finish by sprinkling a handful of the scallions and cilantro.

Bake at 500 degrees until cheese is melted and lightly golden brown.  Remove from oven carefully and then wait 3 minutes before cutting.  Slice and serve.