These Kimchi Pancakes are the perfect way to use up that leftover kimchi in your fridge. Made with kimchi, green onions, and pancake batter, these pancakes come out crispy on the edges and slightly chewy in the middle. They're super quick and easy to make. Ready in 20 minutes or less.
Looking for a challenge? Make your own kimchi with my kimchi recipe!
I had kimchi pancakes for the first time not too long ago! I was at my friend's house for a "Christmas" dinner over the holiday break, and his mom made kimchi pancakes for everyone, along with soup and other dishes (bless Korean moms).
I was surprised at how good it tasted. There was a strong fermented taste (almost yeasty like sourdough), and the texture of the inside was tender with a slight chew. I bet it would've been super crispy too, but she made them in advance for us before we arrived.
I asked my friend to ask his mom for the recipe, but he still hasn't gotten back to me XD. I'll have to bug him again soon. But in the meantime, I did make my own version at home, and I think it tasted pretty good.
Key Ingredients
Kimchi: You will want to use the sourest kimchi you can find. My kimchi was getting close to 4 months old, and it was perfect for this recipe.
Green onions: Green onions provide a fantastic flavor to the pancakes. I used 3 whole scallions, white and green parts included.
Flour: Flour is the base of the pancake batter. In my testing, I did varying amounts of flour to starch-ratios, and I found flour to be extremely important for the structure of the pancake. The less flour you used, the flimsier the pancakes got. So I recommend a 4:1 ratio of flour to starch.
Potato starch: A little bit of starch helps create the crispy texture that kimchi pancakes are known for.
Kimchi Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup potato starch
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups kimchi (chopped; plus two tablespoons of brine)
- 3 scallions (chopped)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, potato starch, sugar, salt, and black pepper.
- In another bowl, combine the kimchi, 2 tablespoons of kimchi brine, scallions, and cold water.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add ⅔ cup of the batter to the center of the pan and use a spoon to spread it out in a flat circle.
- Cook the first side for 3-4 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Flip the pancake and drizzle another tablespoon of oil around the pancake. Continue cooking for 2 minutes until crispy.
- Transfer to a serving plate and cut into pieces. Enjoy!
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