Try These Fresh Veggie Korean Pancakes

Posted in Exhibitions, The Edible Garden on July 8 2010, by Plant Talk

Cathy Erway, author of The Art of Eating In, will present cooking demonstrations at The Edible Garden Conservatory Kitchen on Saturday, July 10, at 1 and 3 p.m..

Perhaps you’ve tried them at Korean restaurants, with spicy kimchee in the batter. Maybe you’ve heard of them and guessed they were more or less like scallion pancakes at Chinese restaurants, but with more stuff. Maybe you’ve even taken a crack at making them at home, with strips of leftover meat or seafood. In any case, you are probably well aware of how simple yet delicious a crisp, savory pancake hot off the pan can be. I’ve found that holds true with almost any ingredient you mix into the batter.

My favorite way to enjoy savory pancakes, though, is just with fresh veggies. Red onions and apples is a wildly satisfying combo in the winter. Shredded carrots and parsnips go great together, too. But in the summer, the vibrant flavors of everything that’s in season can’t be beat. Try making the pancakes with thinly sliced peppers of all shades and mixing fresh corn into the batter along with scallions and another type of onion. For the recipe below, I use a filling of mostly shredded zucchini.

The basic formula I use for the pancake batter is very simple and easy to remember: 1 cup of flour, 1 egg, and 1 cup of sparkling water. Add a pinch of salt, and you’re ready to go. Once that’s whisked up, plop your shredded vegetables straight into the batter. A considerable ratio of vegetables to batter is preferred, so that each bite has plenty.

This dish makes an easy snack or a satisfying meal on its own, depending on how much stuff you want to toss in the batter. Cut the finished pancakes into wedges, and serve them on a platter with a dish of soy sauce for drizzling or dipping at your next party. They’ll go surprisingly fast!

This recipe is from my book, The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove. You can find a more general recipe on my Web site Not Eating Out in New York.

Zucchini, Scallion, and Fresh Corn Korean Pancakes
(makes about 6 “silver dollar-size” pancakes)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sparkling/seltzer water
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
1 scallion, julienned
1 shredded zucchini and/or summer squash
kernels from 1 ear of corn
3–4 tablespoons vegetable oil
soy sauce and vinegar, or hot sauce, for serving (optional)

Sift the flour and combine in a large bowl. Whisk in the egg and seltzer until there are no lumps. Add the salt, pepper, and vegetables and stir. Fully coat the bottom of a large pan with oil and place over medium-high heat. Ladle one scoop of batter at a time into the pan, working in batches of two. After a couple of minutes, check the underside of the pancake, and flip before the pancake batter on the top begins to cook (it should still be liquid when you flip, just like cooking regular pancakes). Cook another couple minutes on the opposite side. Remove from pan, add more oil to coat the pan, and repeat with the rest of the batter. Serve pancakes with a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar, or hot sauce on the side.