Kimchi-jeon (Kimchi Pancake)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10-inch nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet
• •Wide flexible spatula
• •Mixing bowl
• •Kitchen scissors or knife for chopping kimchi

Instructions

1. 1

   Chop the kimchi

   Chop the kimchi into small, even pieces, about 1/2 inch. Big leaves drag through the batter and tear the pancake when you flip it. Measure the kimchi juice separately; it gives sourness, salt, and color, so do not replace it with plain water unless the jar is dry.

   If your kimchi is fresh, leave it at room temperature for a few hours to wake up the sourness, or cook a different dish tonight. Fresh kimchi makes a quiet pancake, and quiet is not what this one needs.
2. 2

   Mix the batter

   In a bowl, whisk the flour, potato starch, kimchi juice, ice-cold water, egg if using, gochugaru, sugar if needed, and salt only if your kimchi juice tastes weak. Stop as soon as the dry patches disappear. A few small lumps are better than a beaten batter, because overmixing makes the pancake tough.

3. 3

   Fold in vegetables

   Fold in the chopped kimchi, scallion, and onion. The batter should coat the vegetables loosely and fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon. If it sits like paste, add 1 tablespoon ice-cold water at a time. Thin batter spreads wide and fries crisp; thick batter sulks in the pan.

4. 4

   Heat the pan

   Set a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 to 3 tablespoons oil. Wait until the oil shimmers and a drop of batter sizzles at once. This is not deep frying, but it is not a dry pancake either. Kimchi-jeon needs enough oil to lace the edges and cook the center before the outside burns.

5. 5

   Fry it thin

   Pour in half the batter and spread it quickly into a thin 8-inch round. Press the thicker kimchi pieces down with the spatula so the surface touches the pan evenly. Fry 3 to 4 minutes, until the rim is crisp, the underside is deep red-brown in spots, and the top has mostly set.

6. 6

   Flip and finish

   Slide a wide spatula under the pancake and flip it in one steady motion. Add 1 teaspoon more oil around the edge and tilt the pan so it runs underneath. Fry 2 to 3 minutes more, pressing once or twice, until the second side is crisp and the middle no longer feels wet.

7. 7

   Cut and serve

   Move the pancake to a board and cut it into squares while it is still crisp. Stir together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, and sesame seeds for dipping. Serve the first pancake while the second one fries, because kimchi-jeon is honest only for a short time after it leaves the pan.

Chef Tips

• •Use old kimchi. Not spoiled, not fizzy in a troubling way, just well-fermented and sour. The jar should smell sharp and clean. If it smells rotten, moldy, or alcoholic in a harsh way, throw it away.
• •Potato starch is the small modern kindness here. It gives the edge a cleaner crispness than flour alone, and it does not change the dish. Korean pancake mix can stand in for the flour and starch, but taste before adding salt, because many mixes are already seasoned.
• •Do not add gochujang. The kimchi has already done the fermentation work, and gochujang makes the pancake sweet, heavy, and one-note. Let the kimchi taste like itself.
• •For a fuller drinking-table version, add 60g thin-sliced pork belly or canned tuna, well drained. Keep the same batter amount and fry the pancake a little smaller so the center cooks through.
• •If the first pancake tears, the batter is probably too wet or the pan was not hot enough. Add 1 tablespoon flour to the remaining batter, heat the pan properly, and try again. The second pancake teaches more than the first.

Advance Preparation

• •The kimchi can be chopped and measured up to 1 day ahead. Keep the chopped kimchi and its juice covered in the refrigerator.
• •Mix the batter only right before frying. If it sits too long, the kimchi keeps releasing liquid and the flour hydrates too heavily, giving you a soft pancake.
• •Leftovers can be refrigerated for 2 days. Reheat in a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat until the edges crisp again. Do not reheat in a microwave unless you have made peace with softness.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 210g)