Fried comfort food in pancake form? Don’t mind if I do, really! Plus, you’ll even sneak a few veggies in with these Korean-Style Vegetable Pancakes.
Here’s a “what the heck should I do with these leftover veggies” recipe for your Monday. (Ooh, and it’s a vegetarian recipe — so appropriate for your Meatless Monday!) Veggie pancakes were one of my favorite things to enjoy at my favorite local Korean restaurant, until they sadly closed a couple of years ago. So, this week I’ve been trying to recreate Korean-style Vegetable Pancakes.
No, they’re not quite the same, but they’re pretty good! While experimenting with these Korean vegetable pancakes, I looked at recipes like Korean vegetable pancake and Jeon vegetable pancake, then jumped off from there with things I had in my house. Lacking zucchini, I tried one batch with carrots, then tweaked ingredients & proportions with a later batch (shown in the photos here) using broccoli.
Honestly: I liked the carrot ones a little better, because of the added pop of sweetness that helped balance out the other flavors. Modify your own veggie pancakes according to what you have on hand, though, because this is a great way to help use up some leftover vegetables. Don’t skip the scallions (green onions); you need that flavor here, and I’d recommended including at least one sweeter veggie in the mix.
Is this recipe “healthy?” Despite the word “vegetable” in the name, probably not so much. Fried, salty comfort food to enjoy on a long day at home, that’s what this is. Balance in all things. 🙂
I usually only do this kind of pan frying once a year with Chanukah latkes, because it’s so messy, greasy, and time-consuming, but there’s an exception to every rule, right? If there were ever a time for exceptions, I think we’re all living in that time right now.
Korean-Style Vegetable Pancakes
Ingredients
(Note: I only needed three of these potatoes and part of the broccoli crown)
– for the vegetables
1 cup finely diced broccoli, shredded zucchini, and/or grated carrot
1 cup shredded yellow potatoes (about 1/2 lb)
3/4 cup diced sweet bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
– for the batter
1/2 cup flour
1 large egg
3/4 cup water
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
Black pepper, to taste
– to fry
6 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil, divided
3 tsp sesame oil, divided
– for the dipping sauce
6 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
Directions
Chop, grate, and shred the vegetables. (You want them to be small, so that they cook well in thin pancakes.)
Whisk the flour, egg, water, and spices together in a large bowl until well blended and not lumpy. Stir in all of the veggies.
Heat 2 Tbsp canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 1 tsp sesame oil and swirl to coat the pan (carefully, because it will want to spit and splatter).
Spoon out batter by heaping tablespoons-full into the pan to make 4 small pancakes at a time, flattening and spreading them out until they are very thin and even.
Fry pancakes over medium-high heat for three or four minutes, until browned and crispy on the edges. Flip pancakes, press them down, and cook for another three minutes or until golden and crispy.
Remove pancakes from the pan onto a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
Repeat this process until all the batter is cooked into pancakes, adding more oil to the pan as necessary between batches.
While the veggie pancakes are cooking, mix all of the sauce ingredients together. Serve vegetable pancakes with dipping sauce. (Don’t skip the sauce, because it really makes the recipe!)
Note: Run your oven fan and open a window while cooking, if possible. Add oil as necessary between batches; the amount in the ingredients reflects how much I used today, but this may vary.
Well, that was a fun little exercise
These Korean-style vegetable pancakes are even good cold the next day. If you reheat them in the microwave they are still good, but will get soggier. (You can also reheat them on a little pan in the toaster oven.)
Got comfort food? Devote an hour to making up a batch of these, and then you will! Then, we can even all say that we’ve eaten our veggies today… This recipe makes about 20 pancakes, which you can serve as a hearty appetizer or side dish — or, do like I did, and just eat ’em for lunch.
Looking for more vegetarian recipe ideas? Take a few minutes to browse through the Meatless Monday category for additional dinner options.
Korean-Style Vegetable Pancakes, printable recipe
Korean-Style Vegetable Pancakes
Ingredients
– for the vegetables
- 1 cup finely diced broccoli, shredded zucchini, and/or grated carrot
- 1 cup shredded yellow potatoes about 1/2 lb
- 3/4 cup diced sweet bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
- 1 tsp minced garlic about 2 cloves
– for the batter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp seasoned salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne optional
- Black pepper to taste
– to fry
- 6 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil divided
- 3 tsp sesame oil divided
– for the dipping sauce
- 6 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Chop, grate, and shred the vegetables. (You want them to be small, so that they cook well in thin pancakes.)
- Whisk the flour, egg, water, and spices together in a large bowl until well blended and not lumpy. Stir in all of the veggies.
- Heat 2 Tbsp canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 1 tsp sesame oil and swirl to coat the pan (carefully, because it will want to spit and splatter).
- Spoon out batter by heaping tablespoons-full into the pan to make 4 small pancakes at a time, flattening and spreading them out until they are very thin and even.
- Fry pancakes over medium-high heat for three or four minutes, until browned and crispy on the edges. Flip pancakes, press them down, and cook for another three minutes or until golden and crispy.
- Remove pancakes from the pan onto a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
- Repeat this process until all the batter is cooked into pancakes, adding more oil to the pan as necessary between batches.
- While the veggie pancakes are cooking, mix all of the sauce ingredients together. Serve vegetable pancakes with dipping sauce. (Don’t skip the sauce, because it really makes the recipe!)
Notes
If you aren’t using a food processor
You could probably deal with the veggies more quickly than I did by using a food processor. (The times in the recipe above reflect manual shredding). If you’re not using one, though: I love my little IKEA grater with container; it’s one of the best kitchen investments I ever made, because it’s so much easier to deal with than a box grater for cheese, zesting and more. You can also pre-shred and pop the lid right onto the container to store for later, and can pick up a similar grater with container here.
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