These kimchi pancakes are a savory, slightly crunchy, and easy to make as a side dish or a snack! With 4 simple ingredients and just 10 minutes of your time, you'll have the best tasting pancakes ready to serve.
Kimchi pancakes are a must-have side dish when having Korean BBQ or with any Korean meal. The great thing is that they're easy to make at home as long as you have some kimchi and flour on hand. If you have some extra kimchi sitting in the fridge waiting to be used, you're in luck with this recipe. And if there's still some leftover, you can add the kimchi into Kimchi Mushroom Soft Tofu Stew (Vegetarian), Creamy Kimchi Pasta with Mushrooms or Quick and Easy Kimchi Fried Rice.
There's endless dishes to try!
What is kimchi?
Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish made up of fermented vegetables, usually cabbage or radish. Many Korean dishes requiring kimchi as an ingredient are referring to the napa cabbage type. The vegetables are seasoned with a mix of Korean spicy pepper powder, fermented shrimp, garlic, ginger, and sometimes even sweetened with the addition of Korean pear. Every family will have their own special recipe. If you've never tried kimchi before, the smell may be quite strong, but trust me, it'll grow on you and the flavors are so unique.
If you want to make your own kimchi at home, you can follow my Quick & Easy Homemade Kimchi recipe! You'll have fresh kimchi to use the day-of, but letting it ferment for some time on the counter and then storing the fermented vegetables in the fridge will give it even more depth of flavor.
Nowadays, you can find kimchi at most grocery stores or find it online.
Is kimchi vegetarian?
Most commercially made kimchi is not considered vegetarian since these usually include ingredients such as fermented shrimp paste or fish sauce. However, you can find commercial vegan kimchi brands or make your own at home and omit those ingredients.
Ingredients
- Kimchi: Use napa cabbage kimchi and reserve some of the kimchi juice!
- Flour
- Water
- Green onion
You can serve these pancakes with a versatile dipping sauce that consists of:
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Rice vinegar
- Sugar
- Water
- Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Chop kimchi into bite-sized pieces. Place into a bowl.
- Add water, flour, chopped scallions and mix until flour has completely dissolved.
- Heat up 1 tablespoon of neutral oil in a pan, be generous so the pancake doesn't stick.
- Take 1 cup of the mixture and place into the hot pan. Spread the mixture out thinly so each pancake is cooked evenly throughout.
- Cook one side for 2-3 minutes on low-medium heat. You can swirl the pan around so the oil gets all the edges and use a spatula to lift and check that the bottom has cooked.
- Use a spatula and flip the pancake to cook the other side. If you feel that the pan is getting too dry , you can add a couple more drops of oil. Let cook for 2 minutes.
- Repeat until batter is finished. Always replenish the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil before starting a new batch.
- Slice and serve with kimchi pancake dipping sauce!
Tips
- Be generous with oil on the pan and spread evenly. This helps to ensure that none of the pancake sticks to the pan.
- Use ice cold water to mix the batter. This helps to keep the pancake crispy.
- Spread the batter thinly and evenly when cooking. This helps to ensure that the batter will cook thoroughly. When I first started making these pancakes, I would dump the entire batter onto a pan and it would never cook through! I wonder why.
📖 Recipe
Kimchi Pancake
Ingredients
- 1 cup napa cabbage kimchi (chopped)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cold water
- 3 tablespoon kimchi juice
- 3 scallions (chopped)
- Neutral cooking oil
Kimchi Pancake Dipping Sauce
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
- Roughly chop kimchi into bite-sized pieces. Place into a bowl.
- Add flour, water, kimchi juice, and chopped scallions into the bowl and mix well until a batter consistency. If you want a finer texture, run the flour through a sieve to get rid of any lumps.
- Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil on a pan. Once hot, turn the heat down to medium-low. Add 1 cup of the batter and spread thinly into a circle. Let bottom cook for 2-3 minutes. You can swirl the pan around to ensure the oil crisps up the entire edge of the pancake.
- Flip the pancake and cook the other side for another 2 minutes or until crispy.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until batter is done. Always replenish the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil before adding the batter to the pan to avoid sticking.
- Mix ingredients for dipping sauce, slice pancake and serve!
nancy says
i love kimchi and a good korean pancake. thanks for this easy recipe for busy weeknights