Korean vegetable pancakes are a quick and healthy snack that can be quickly rustled up in the kitchen with vegetables found in the refrigerator. Packed with veggies, this is one dish you can gorge on guilt-free. You can also have these for appetisers or for a light dinner.
Living the K-life with Yachaejeon!
If you are a fan of K-pop and K dramas (like me!), you must have definitely heard of the Korean vegetable pancakes, aka yachaejeon. These are thin, flat fritters with crisp edges and crunchy vegetables inside. Yachaejeon is usually made as a giant pancake, which is then cut into smaller pieces which can be picked up with chopsticks, dipped in a dipping sauce and devoured..yum!!
The dipping sauce is made of soy sauce, vinegar and chilli flakes, giving it the right amount of umami, tartness and a spicy kick. This is my tried and tested recipe for the dipping sauce. Measure out the sauces precisely, and you can’t go wrong. You can adjust the spicy to your palate. I prefer a bit of spice and sometimes add the Thai chilli padi to the sauce for an extra spicy kick!
Pancakes are a typical dish in Korean cuisine. Koreans often reach out for store-bought Korean pancake flour called buchim garu. Buchim garu is a pantry staple in Korean homes. The seasoned mix typically includes wheat flour and other ingredients such as corn starch, rice flour and sometimes baking powder.
This recipe is made from scratch and uses staples found in pantries around the world. You can also use up leftover vegetables for this recipe. Packing in loads of veggies with just enough flour to bind them together is the idea.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of thinly sliced or julienned vegetables. You can add vegetables of your choice. The ones that go well are spring onions, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, capsicums, onions, sweet potatoes and zucchini. All the vegetables should be of a similar size and thickness.
- 1 green chilli-sliced (optional)
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup rice flour
- 3/4 cup water
- 0.5 tsp salt
- Oil for frying
For the dipping sauce:
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
For sweet chilli sauce:
- 5 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
- 50 ml apple cider or white wine vinegar
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 100 gm granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 200 ml water
How to make Korean vegetable pancakes
Combine all the vegetables together in a bowl. Make sure that all the vegetables are of a similar size and cut as fine as possible. Tempting as it might be, do not grate the vegetables as this will make the pancakes dense.
Add salt and allow the vegetables to stand for 10-15 minutes. The vegetables will release water. Drain this water and use it later. This will enable you to make sure the pancake batter does not become too runny due to the water released from the vegetables.
Add in the all-purpose flour and rice flour and mix well. The flour should coat all the vegetables evenly, with just enough leftover for binding.
Slowly add in the water from the vegetables, mixing in the vegetables simulatneously. You may need to add some more. Do it a tablespoon at a time.The batter should be thick, loaded with vegetables, with just enough flour to provide the binding.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a thick bottom skillet. Once the oil is hot, pour a ladle of batter on the skillet and quickly spread it as thinly as possible with a fork and spoon to help you.
Fry the pancake on medium-high heat till the base is set and crispy, around 2-3 minutes.
Flip the pancake and cook on the other side. Add more oil if needed. Press gently with a spatula to flatten the pancake and cook evenly. Cook for another 2 minutes till the pancakes are done on both sides.
Remove onto a serving plate and cut with a knife into pieces of desired size.
To make the dipping sauce:
Mix together the sauces, chilli flakes and sesame seeds. Set this aside at room temperature to be used to dip the Korean vegetable pancakes.
To make the sweet chilli sauce:
I also love to pair these pancakes with a sweet chilli sauce. To make the sweet chilli sauce at home, blitz all the ingredients (except the cornflour) in a blender until smooth. Transfer the blended mixture into a saucepan and place it on medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the sauce gently for a minute. Mix the cornflour in a tbsp of room temperature water to make a slurry. Add the cornflour slurry to the sauce. Stir continuously till the mixture starts to thicken. Once the sauce has a glossy appearance, take it off from the heat and allow to cool. The sauce will thicken further as it cools down.
Try out this recipe and let me know how it turns out!
Happy cooking!!
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