Vegan Kimchi Pancakes with Gochujang Dip
Kimchijeon are pancakes with kimchi - and this ranks them directly quite high on my pancake scale. As kimchi is usually made with fish sauce, make sure to doublecheck if your store-bought kimchi is vegan. In any case, it's even easier if you do vegan kimchi yourself. You can find our recipe here.
But now, let's talk about today's pancakes: I love this recipe not only because of the fact that kimchi pairs so well with pancakes, but also that the preparation is super easy and quick. All yu need to do is to cut vegetables and kimchi, mix the batter, stir to combine, and fry the pancakes. Thanks to the rice flour, these pancakes are crispy on the outside, but because of the veggies and kimchi, they still keep soft inside and are quite spicy, of course.
But what to do if you don't like spicy food? Isa is a good example for this, as she loves to eat mild dishes. But even she has eaten several of these kimchi pancakes – trust me, I've seen it with my own eyes! I'd recommend to start with less kimchi and more vegetables. Over time, you can adjust the pancake batter to your taste. Regarding the dip, just start with less gochujang or directly switch out the dip in our recipe with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and water.
Vegan Kimchi Pancakes with Gochujang Dip
Ingredients
For the batter
- 1 carrot
- 2 scallions
- 200 g (7 oz) vegan kimchi
- 3 tbsp vegan kimchi liquid
- 60 g (0.5 cup) flour
- 30 g (0.25 cup) rice flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 150 ml (0.66 cup) sparkling water
- salt
- pepper
- scallion for serving
- white and black sesame seeds
For the dip
- 3 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
- 3 tsp gochujang (hot pepper paste)
Instructions
Cut carrot in thin stripes and scallions in fine rings. Chop vegan kimchi and set all aside.
Add flour, rice flour, cornstarch, soy sauce, vegan kimchi liquid, and sparkling water to a bowl and stir to combine. Season wit salt and pepper, then add the cut vegetables and vegan kimchi and mix into a thick batter. Let the batter rest for several minutes.
Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and add 1-2 tbsp of the batter per pancake to the frying pan. Fry kimchi pancakes in batches until they are browned and crispy from both sides.
For the dip, mix vegan mayonnaise and gochujang. Depending on how spicy you like to eat, you can use more or less gochujang. Serve kimchi pancakes with some scallion rings and the spicy gochujang dip!
