Vegan Korean Vegetable Pancake (Vegan Yachaejeon)
Vegan Korean Vegetable Pancake (Vegan Yachaejeon) - Savory pancake filled with scallion and other veggies. The pancake is crispy on the edges and tender in the center. Perfect appetizer for any occasion!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 7 pancakes 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Pan fried
- Cuisine: Korean
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Scale
For the pancakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons potato starch (or corn starch)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice-cold water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 to 10 scallions/green onion, cut diagonally and thinly
- 1 carrot, cut into match sticks
- 1 small-size zucchini, cut into match sticks
- 1/2 medium-size onion, thinly sliced
- 3.5 ounces Enoki mushroom (see note)
- 7 to 8 teaspoons vegetable oil
For Dipping Sauce (see note)
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar (or sugar)
- 1 teaspoon Sambal oelek (or sriracha)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 to 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- On a large bowl, mix together flour, potato starch, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and ice-cold water until it resembles the pancake batter (it might be slightly thicker but not by much).
- Add all the vegetables to the batter. Mix until all the vegetables are well coated with flour mixture. It may look like it is not enough batter but as time goes on, the water from all the vegetables will release, and the seasoning from the batter wilt the vegetable so it will be easier to work with.
- In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.
- On a small-size non-stick frying pan (I used 8-inch non-stick frying pan), add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil on medium heat.
- Add 1/2 cup of vegetable pancake mixture to the pan. By using a spoon, carefully spread the pancake mixture until it covers the bottom of the pan evenly.
- Cook for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, the edges should be brown. Flip them over and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Take the pancakes out of the pan and add another teaspoon of oil. Remove the frying pan from the heat and add 1/2 cup of pancake mixture to the pan. Once you spread the pancake mixture evenly, return the pan to the heat and cook it for 2 minutes on each side.
- Repeat until all the pancake batter is used up. You should end up with about 7 small-size pancakes.
- Serve with dipping sauce.
Notes
- Enoki mushroom is optional here. I personally like the texture of Enoki mushroom but it may not be an easy ingredient to find outside of an Asian grocery store.
- Traditionally the dipping sauce uses gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) but not everyone has this ingredient in the pantry. I found sambal oelek to be a good substitute for gochugaru in this dipping sauce. If you don't have sambal oelek, you can also use a small squirt of sriracha. If you are not a fan of spicy food, you can omit the spicy component altogether.
