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Kraut-corn

When I was meant to be cooking dinner for my family one night, I got distracted & reinvented shit crisps. You know those puffy ones made from rancid oil, MSG & not much else but they taste amazing? Well, Graham came home that night to what he described as a ‘curious smell’.
“What’s that smell?” he said.
“I’m dehydrating some kimchi.”
“Of course you are, Luce – who isn’t?”
…& that was that, but to me, the smell wafting out of my dehydrator took me right back to one of my all time faves of the eighties; PICKLED ONION MONSTER MUNCH!
‘Omg’ I thought, (I hadn’t quite decided what I was going to do with my dehydrated kraut & kimchi, but I knew it involved grinding it into a powder& seasoning something with it)…’Imagine if I could create ‘shit crisps, the healthy version’?!’ …
So that night, despite heckles from my children of “Why faff about with that when you could just dollop it on your plate & have done?” & “why not just stop making it, it stinks”, I popped some corn, added a few secret ingredients, then sprinkled on a generous dusting of kimchi & beet-kraut powders – & “Aaaagh! It worked! It tastes like shit crisps but it’s not shit!” The look on my kids’ faces (who’ve sworn since birth they’d never touch kraut as long as they live), was priceless. They so didn’t want to like it. Their hands couldn’t resist taking some to try. Their eyes lit up when they did…then they had a full on fight over it. Brilliant!
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Popcorn
Coconut oil/ goats butter/ ghee
Maple syrup
Sea/ Himalayan salt
Kimchi/ kraut powder

• To make the kimchi/ kraut powders you just dehydrate some kimchi/ kraut (in a dehydrator or a low oven; 45-50c) until it’s crisp enough to grind into a powder.
• Pop some popcorn as you normally would. I have a popcorn maker (we eat a lot of it!) & add a teaspoon each of coconut oil, goats butter & ghee, then sprinkle with salt, but everyone has their own way.
• The addition of a splash of maple syrup gives this the umami level that MSG can only dream of… I melt it in a small pan with the oil & butter, then drizzle it over the popcorn.
Sprinkle with salt & the kimchi/ kraut powders & you’re done.
A bit of a faff but SO worth it!

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