“It takes a village to raise a child” – whoever said that is a ‘genius’ for lack of a better words. We have been blessed with many friends who are always ready to help with kids activities. A BIG THANK YOU to all of you…. You know 🙏😊
My younger son recently came home from a playdate with a Korean pancake. It smelled delicious and I wanted to make it at home. I have heard of scallion pancakes and especially the trader Joe’s ones which are very famous – but I personally find it very greasy .. SORRY! This particular one from his Korean friend was loaded with veggies. So I started chatting up with the mother and got my hands on some amazing Korean recipes. What I really liked about these pancakes is they are loaded with veggies and the batter merely holds the veggies together. Almost like a fritter. By pan-frying them on a cast iron pan, I used very little oil and they were super crisp and delicious. This dish can be served for an appetizer or even as a main course since it is packed with veggies. We can also add sautéed tofu bits for the protein. I kept mine simple with just veggies.
Step 1 – Veggie mixture. I started off with 3 bags of readymade produce – julienne carrots, broccoli slaw and frozen shredded potatoes. Thaw the potatoes completely and pat them dry. Mix all three veggies and add any spice of choice. I added habanero (as always!), onions and garlic. For the flavor profile I added plenty of chopped dill. Any herb of choice will work well to add an additional depth of flavor.
Step 2 – For the batter, I mixed rice flour, corn flour, oat flour and tapioca flour for binding. This kept the batter gluten-free. I also added 2 heaping tablespoons of Nutritional yeast to give a boost of protein. It also adds a deep flavor profile. Add baking soda to give it some fluffiness and crispness. Mix the flours with some water to make it into a thick batter.
Note – Other flour options can be whole wheat flour, spelt flour or multi-grain flour
Step 3– Heat up a cast iron pan and wipe with a little bit of oil. Take 4 tablespoons of veggie mixture in a mixing dish, add 2 tablespoons of batter and mix to incorporate. Pour ladlefuls on the hot pan and pan down. You can make them into a large pancake or several small ones. I found making small ones much easier to handle. Drizzle some oil, turn over when edges start browning. Pan-fry both sides to a crisp texture.
This recipe is very easy and versatile. Use any veggies of choice, just keep in mind moisture rich veggies like zucchini, squash have to be shredded and patted-dry so that the pancake does not become soggy.
Enjoy it with a simple dipping sauce made with a mixture of sriracha, rice vinegar, soy sauce and sesame seed.
Vegetable Pancakes – Korean style
Equipment
- Cast Iron pan
Ingredients
Dipping sauce –
- 2 tbsps Sriracha sauce
- 1 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sesame seeds
Veggie mixture –
- 2 cups Julienne Carrots
- 2 cups Broccoli slaw shredded broccoli stalks
- 2 cups Potato shredded if using frozen thawed and towel dried
- 1 Onion sliced
- 3 pods Garlic sliced
- 1 Habanero sliced
- Salt
Batter mixture –
- 1/2 cup Brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup Corn flour
- 1/2 cup Oat flour gluten-free
- 2 tbsps Nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- Salt
- Oil to pan-fry
Instructions
- Bowl 1 – Mix all the ingredients for dipping sauce in a bowl and set aside
- Bowl 2 – Mix all the ingredients under veggie mixture and set aside
- Bowl 3 – Mix the batter ingredients with tablespoons of water until a pouring but thick batter is prepared
- Put a cast iron pan on heat and spread a teaspoon of oil
- Bowl 4 – Add 4 tablespoons of the veggie mix and add 2 tablespoons of the batter, mix to combine, pour into 1 large pancake on to prepared cast iron pan
- Drizzle some oil
- Turn over and fry both sides until pancake is nice and crispy
- Serve with dipping sauce
