Sausage Chijeu-mari (Sausage and Cheese Rolls)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10-inch skillet or wide saute pan
• •Small pastry brush or fingertip for sealing paste
• •Tongs or long chopsticks
• •Wire rack set over a tray
• •Instant-read thermometer, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the cheese

   Cut the mozzarella into 12 neat sticks, each about the same length as the sausages and no thicker than 8mm. Put the cheese in the freezer for 15 minutes while you prepare everything else. Cold cheese gives the wrapper time to brown before the middle runs. If the cheese is too thick, it will split the roll no matter how nicely you wrapped it.

   Use low-moisture mozzarella or string cheese. Fresh mozzarella carries too much water and leaks before the wrapper has a chance to crisp.
2. 2

   Blanch and dry

   Drop the fully cooked sausages into simmering water for 30 seconds, then drain and pat them very dry. This takes off a little surface salt and oil, and it helps the wrapper grip. Make one lengthwise slit in each sausage, stopping before you cut through, so it opens just enough to cradle a cheese stick.

3. 3

   Mix paste and sauce

   Stir the flour with 1 1/2 tablespoons water until smooth and thick enough to brush onto a wrapper edge. In a second bowl, mix the ketchup, gochujang, rice syrup, vinegar, sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon water. One teaspoon of gochujang is enough. This is a sausage and cheese roll, not a chili paste delivery vehicle. Let it taste like itself.

4. 4

   Wrap the rolls

   Lay one wrapper in a diamond shape, with a point facing you. Set one slit sausage on the lower third, tuck one cold cheese stick into the slit, then fold the bottom point over tightly. Fold in the two sides, brush the top edge with flour paste, and roll away from you into a snug cylinder. Press the seam closed and set it seam-side down. Cover the finished rolls with a clean towel so the wrappers do not dry and crack.

   Do not trap air beside the cheese. Air expands in the pan and opens the roll. Tight wrapping is not decoration here; it is the cooking method.
5. 5

   Pan-fry in batches

   Pour the oil into a 10-inch skillet and heat over medium until a scrap of wrapper bubbles steadily when it touches the oil, about 170 to 175C. Add the rolls seam-side down, leaving space between them. Fry 2 minutes on the seam side first, then turn until all sides are deep golden and blistered, 4 to 5 minutes total per batch. Keep the heat medium. Too high, the outside burns before the cheese softens; too low, the wrapper drinks oil.

6. 6

   Drain and serve

   Lift the rolls onto a wire rack and let them stand 2 minutes. That short rest keeps the wrapper crisp and saves the first bite from burning your mouth. Drizzle lightly with yellow mustard if you like, sprinkle sesame seeds over the sauce, and serve with the gochujang-ketchup dip. Eat within 10 minutes, while the wrapper still crackles and the cheese still pulls.

Chef Tips

• •Use fully cooked sausages. Raw sausage will not cook safely in the short time the wrapper needs, and if you fry longer the cheese will escape. If you only have hot dogs, cut them crosswise into 6cm lengths and slit them the same way.
• •Spring roll wrappers give the cleanest crackle. Round mandu-pi (dumpling skins) work too, but they fry a little chewier and need careful sealing at the ends.
• •The cheese must be narrower than the sausage. Notebook 42 says 8mm is the number that fits most mini sausages without bursting the wrapper. Bigger looks generous before frying and foolish after.
• •Keep the sauce light. Ketchup and mustard are common at street stalls, and a small spoon of gochujang makes it Korean without burying the snack under heat.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce can be mixed up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Stir it before serving, because the sesame oil rises.
• •The rolls can be assembled up to 6 hours ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator in a single layer, seam-side down, so the wrappers do not dry out.
• •For longer storage, freeze the uncooked rolls on a tray until firm, then store them in a freezer bag up to 1 month. Fry from frozen over medium-low heat for 6 to 7 minutes, turning often, so the center warms before the outside gets too dark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 195g)