Bindaetteok (Korean Mung Bean Pancakes)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •High-powered blender or food processor
• •10 to 12 inch cast-iron skillet or heavy frying pan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Wide spatula
• •Wire rack set over a tray

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the beans

   Put the mung beans and rice in a large bowl, cover with at least 3 inches of cold water, and soak 6 to 8 hours. Drain in a sieve for 10 minutes. The beans should split easily when pressed between your fingers; hard centers make a sandy batter, while extra soaking water makes pancakes heavy with oil.

   Use peeled split mung beans if you can. Whole green mung beans work, but you must soak them longer and rub away the skins, and that is a separate afternoon.
2. 2

   Season the pork

   Mix the chopped pork with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, the minced garlic, and black pepper. Keep it cold while you prepare the vegetables. Chop the pork small, no larger than 1/4 inch, so it cooks through before the pancake darkens too far.

3. 3

   Dry the fillings

   Blanch the mung bean sprouts for 1 minute, drain, cool just enough to handle, squeeze them dry, and chop them into 1-inch lengths. Squeeze the kimchi firmly and chop it. Toss the gosari in its own bowl with 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Wet fillings split the batter in the pan; unseasoned gosari tastes flat even inside a good pancake.

4. 4

   Grind the batter

   Blend the drained mung beans and rice with 3/4 cup cold water, pulsing and scraping the sides as needed. Stop when the batter is thick and coarse, with tiny grains still visible, not a smooth paste. Stir in the salt. If the blender refuses to move, add water 1 tablespoon at a time, but stop at 2 tablespoons. The little grains brown into the good edge.

   A blender is an honest modern tool here. Mung bean flour is the emergency route, not the standard, because it gives a flatter texture and less chew.
5. 5

   Fold together

   Fold the seasoned pork, kimchi, sprouts, gosari, scallions, and green chili into the mung bean batter. It should mound on a spoon and fall slowly. If it runs like crepe batter, let it stand 10 minutes and pour off any water that rises. Do not rescue it with flour unless you want a different pancake.

6. 6

   Mix the sauce

   Stir together 3 tablespoons soy sauce, vinegar, water, sliced scallion, sesame seeds, gochugaru if using, and sugar. The sugar is only 1/4 teaspoon because it rounds the vinegar; this sauce should stay sharp enough to cut the richness of the fried mung beans.

7. 7

   Heat the oil

   Pour oil into a heavy skillet to a depth of about 1/4 inch and heat over medium-high heat to 340 to 350 F. If you do not use a thermometer, drop in a pea-size bit of batter; it should sizzle at once and brown at the edges in about 20 seconds. Too cool and the pancake drinks oil. Too hot and the outside browns before the pork is done.

8. 8

   Fry the pancakes

   Scoop in 1/2 cup batter for each pancake and spread it to about 4 1/2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Fry 4 to 5 minutes, until the rim is deep golden and the top has lost its wet shine around the edges. Flip once, press gently with the spatula, and fry 3 to 4 minutes more. Work in batches and add oil as needed. If you check with a thermometer, the pork in the center should reach at least 160 F (71 C).

   Do not make them thin to hurry the work. Bindaetteok should be thick enough to eat like food, not like a cracker.
9. 9

   Drain and serve

   Move the pancakes to a wire rack for 2 minutes, then cut into halves or quarters. Serve with the soy-vinegar sauce while the edges are still crisp and the center is tender. Do not cover them on a plate, or the edges soften. A bowl of makgeolli beside them is not required, but it understands the dish.

Chef Tips

• •Buy peeled split mung beans from a Korean market if possible. Indian moong dal can stand in when it is plain, split, and hulled, but rinse it well and soak until it softens fully.
• •Measure the kimchi after squeezing. One cup of wet kimchi and one cup squeezed dry do not behave the same in batter, and this is why old instructions that say 'a handful' fail the second cook.
• •Use cooked gosari from a Korean market, or prepare dried gosari properly by soaking, boiling until tender, and discarding the soaking and cooking water. Do not use raw foraged bracken here.
• •For a meatless table, omit the pork and add 80g minced firm tofu squeezed very dry, or 70g chopped shiitake mushrooms cooked first to drive off moisture. Season them as you would the pork. It will be a different bindaetteok, but an honest one.
• •Enough oil is part of the technique, not an indulgence. A dry pan scorches the bean batter before it crisps; a shallow layer of clean oil gives the pancake its browned edge.

Advance Preparation

• •The mung beans and rice can soak up to 12 hours in the refrigerator. After that, drain and grind, or the beans begin to sour.
• •The kimchi, sprouts, and gosari can be prepared a day ahead and kept in separate covered containers. Season the pork up to 4 hours ahead, not overnight, or it becomes too salty.
• •The batter can be ground up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated without the pork and vegetables. Fold in the fillings only just before frying, because salt and kimchi keep drawing out water.
• •Fried bindaetteok reheats well in a dry skillet or a 375 F oven until the edge crisps again. Do not microwave it unless softness is all you have time for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)