Korean Savoury Pancakes

Crispy, savoury pancakes, full of flavour, served with a sweet and salt dipping sauce. These make a wonderful easy lunch or light dinner.

These pancakes are great as these can easily be customised to your liking and can be made using any vegetables you have available. It is also a great way to use up that random carrot or little bit of cabbage you might have in the bottom of the veggie fridge drawer. Or even left-over roasted veggies.

This recipe will bring them back to life.

WHY ARE PANCAKES ASSOCIATED WITH SHROVE TUESDAY?

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, which is also pancake day. As I was not sure why pancakes are associated with Shrove Tuesday so I did a bit of reading up about it. So, since Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent, this was a way of using up rich foods such as milk, eggs and sugars, before the fasting for 40 days of Lent starts.

In some countries it is also referred to as "Fat Tuesday"

OKAY, BACK TO THESE PANCAKES...

Today I used red bell pepper, carrot, spring onion, my homemade pineapple kimchi and I had a little bit of firm tofu left which I crumbed into the batter. So delicious!

Vegetables such as leek, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, sweet corn, peas, courgette, green beans and sweet potato or potato work really well in this recipe too.

Feel free to add chilli flakes or gochujang paste to the batter for a bit of a chilli kick.

These pancakes can be made as one larger pancake, cut into smaller pieces or make a few smaller pancakes.

GREAT FOR DIPPING

The pancakes are served with a delicious dipping sauce made with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Add a bit of gochujang paste or gochugaru powder to make a spicy dipping sauce.

Let's get frying....

OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Spicy cauliflower bites with a garlic dip

Homemade Baked Falafel

Jennifer Aniston Salad

Pineapple kimchi

KOREAN PANCAKES

Crispy, savoury pancakes, full of flavour and veggies, served with a sweet and salt dipping sauce. These make a wonderful, easy lunch or light dinner.

Makes about 8 pancakes (depending on the size you want).

Cooking time will depend on how many you are frying at a time

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PANCAKES

• 120g plain flour

• 2 tbsp corn-starch

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 150ml water

• 4 tbsp kimchi, roughly chopped, store-bought or homemade

• 1 small carrot, grated

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped into strips

• 1 small red chilli (optional)

• 120g firm tofu, crumbled.

• 2 spring onions, plus more to serve, chopped

• 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste

• oil for frying

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE

(Double the recipe if you like a lot of sauce)

• 1 - 2 tbsp light soy sauce

• 1 tbsp water

• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or vinegar of choice)

• 1 tsp maple syrup

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 tsp sesame seeds

• 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. First, make the dipping sauce by mixing all the ingredients together. Set aside.

2. To make the pancakes sift the flour, corn-starch and backing powder into a mixing bowl.

3. Add the salt and give a quick mix..

4. Add the water and mix until smooth.

5. Add the vegetables, tofu and kimchi and mix until everything is evenly coated.

6. Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Once hot add a bit of oil into the pan and add a big spoonful of batter into the hot pan. Flatten into a pancake shape.

7. Flip the pancake once golden (about 2 - 3 minutes) and fry the other side until golden and cooked. Keep them in the pan a bit longer if you want the crispy, just make sure they are not burning.

8. Remove from the cooked pancake from the pan and continue this process until all the batter has been used. Depending on the size of your pan and size of your pancakes you can a few at a time.

9. Makes about 8 pancakes (depending on the size you want).

10. Serve hot with the dipping sauce.