Korean Pancake (Kimchi)

Kimchijeon 김치전

Kimchijeon or kimchi jeon is a variety of jeon, or Korean pancake-like dish, primarily made with sliced kimchi, flour batter and sometimes other vegetables. However, meat (ground pork) is also often added. Kimchi, spicy pickled vegetables seasoned with chili pepper and jeotgal, is a staple in Korean cuisine. The dish is good for using up ripened kimchi. Kimchijeon is often recognized in Korean culture as a folk dish of low profile that anyone could make easily at home with no extra budget.

It is usually served as an appetizer, snack or banchan (side dish).

When preparing kimchijeon, brine from kimchi is often added, especially that of baechu kimchi, made from Napa cabbage. The brine lends its red color to the batter but is not spicy itself. Along with kimchi, it is served as anju with alcoholic beverages such as makgeolli or dongdongju.

Ingredients:

Kimchijeon with chopped kimchi:

Kimchi

onion

salt

sugar

flour

vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In a bowl, place 1 cup of chopped kimchi, 3 tbs of kimchi juice, 2 tbs chopped onion, ½ ts salt, ½ ts sugar, ½ cup flour (all purpose flour), and ¼ cup of water and mix it well with a spoon.
2. Heat up a 12 inch non-stick pan over medium high heat and drizzle about 2 tbs grape seed oil.
3. Place the mixture of kimchi pancake batter on the pan and spread it thinly and evenly with a spoon.
4. Cook it for 1-1 ½ minutes until the bottom gets golden brown and crispy.
5. Turn it over with a spatula or flip it.
6. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 1½ minutes.
7. Turn it over one more time and cook for 30 seconds before transfering it to a serving plate.
   *tip: Serve it right out of the pan or cool it down and cut it into bite size to serve.

Ingredients:

Kimchijeon with whole kimchi leaves:

Kimchi

ground pork

tofu

onion chives (or green onions)

onion

salt

black ground pepper

sesame oil

egg

flour

grape seed oil

Directions:

Prepare kimchi

1. Prepare 6-7 kimchi leaves (6-7 inches long – 16 cm) and ½ cup flour in a plate.
2. Coat both sides of each kimchi leaf  in the flour by hand.

Make meat mixture

1. In a small bowl, add 2 tbs ground pork (or beef),  2 tbs tofu (after gently squeezing out excess water with a paper towel), 1 ts chopped onion chives (or green onion), 1 tbs chopped onion, a pinch of salt and black ground pepper, 1 ts of sesame oil, and mix the mixture well with a spoon.
2. Set aside.

Make the pancakes

1. Place 1 egg in a small bowl and add a pinch of salt. Beat it with a fork.
2. Add some of the meat-tofu mix on one side of a kimchi stem. Add some flour on top of the mixture.
3. Put some of the meat-tofu mix on the rest of kimchi leaves.
4. Heat up a non-stick pan and add some grape seed oil (or vegetable oil).
5. Coat each kimchi leaf with beaten egg mix and place on the heated pan.
   *tip: the meat mixture should be bottom of the pan
6. When the bottom of the kimchi pancake turns golden brown (1 or 1½ minutes), turn it over and cook another minute.
7. Turn it over one more time and cook another 30 seconds before transfering it to a serving plate.
   *tip: you can serve it as it is or cut it into bite size before serving

Yummm!~ ≥Ö‿Ö≤