Kimchi pancake (kimchi jeon)

This is a great use of leftover kimchi. As with most Korean recipes, you can tweak it to your own tastes with the addition of other vegetables, meat or seafood. You can use the ready-made Korean pancake batter (bu-chim-ga-ru) from Korean groceries.

As with most Korean recipes, you can tweak Kim Chi pancakes to your own tastes with the addition of other vegetables, meat or seafood. Credit: Alan Benson

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ½ cup Korean pancake mix (pajun mix)
• 2 tbsp kimchi juice, optional
• ¾ cup (180 ml) cold water
• ½-⅔ cup chopped well-fermented kimchi
• vegetable oil, for pan frying

Soy dipping sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1½ tbsp rice vinegar
• ¼-½ tsp Korean chilli powder (Kochugaru)
• 1 tbsp chopped green onion (shallots), optional

The following recipe has been tested and edited by SBS Food and may differ slightly from the podcast.

Instructions

In a bowl, place pajun mix, kimchi juice (if using) and water, lightly mix using chopsticks or a fork, being careful not to over mix or the pancakes will be rubbery. Add kimchi to the mix. The batter should have a crepe batter consistency, similar to pouring cream.

Heat a large frypan over medium heat with 2 tbsp of oil. Ladle ½ cup of batter into the pan and spread out batter thinly. Fry for 5-7 minutes until crisp on either side, turning over once. The pancake should take about 2-3 minutes to cook and crisp. Place pancake on a plate with paper towel to drain oil.

Repeat with remaining oil and batter and serve with soy dipping sauce.

Note

• If not using pancake mix (pajun mix), substitute with ½ cup plain flour, 1 tbsp of rice flour, half a beaten egg, ⅛ tsp salt and ¼ tsp soy sauce.

Photography by Alan Benson. Styling by Michelle Noerianto. Food preparation by Nick Banbury.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.