Kimchi pancakes
Crisp-edged, chewy Korean pancakes full of tangy kimchi and green onions, cut into wedges and dunked in a quick soy dipping sauce.
- 30 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $1.90 a serving
- 470 calories
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 cup kimchi, plus 2 tablespoons of its juice
- 3 stalks green onions
- ¼ yellow onion
- 1 tsp gochujang
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp sesame seeds (optional)
From your pantry
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ cup water, ice cold
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
Each serving has about 470 calories, 11 g protein, 52 g carbs and 24 g fat, and costs about $1.90 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the kimchi into small pieces, cut the green onions into 1-inch lengths, and the onion.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
the flour, cornstarch, sugar, gochujang, egg, cold water and kimchi juice into a batter as thick as pancake batter, then the kimchi and onions.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Fold. Folding means mixing gently by scooping from the bottom and turning it over the top, instead of stirring hard. It keeps light mixtures airy and soft things like berries or herbs in one piece.
How you’ll know: You use slow, wide strokes and stop as soon as there are no streaks left.
Dolly’s tip: Cold water keeps the batter from turning gluey, so the pancakes fry up crisp.Stir the soy sauce, vinegar and pepper flakes together for dipping.
Heat 1½ tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick over medium-high until it . Spread half the batter into a thin round about 9 inches across.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Medium-high heat
Cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the edges are and the bottom is when you lift it with a spatula.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Flip it and cook 3 minutes more, pressing it flat with the spatula, until crisp and cooked through.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: Nervous about flipping? Slide it onto a plate, lay the skillet upside down over it, and turn the two over together.Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Slide it onto a board and repeat with the rest of the oil and batter. Cut into wedges, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve with the dipping sauce.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
