Kimchi Pancake

A savory, thin pancake loaded with kimchi and fried to crispy perfection in a cast iron pan. Good as an appetizer. Even better as a late night snack.

When there’s nothing left in the house to eat, there’s always kimchi.  Pungent. Funky.  Spicy.  And oh so delicious.  Kimchi makes everything taste better. 

Kimchi tastes especially good in pancakes.  No, not the fluffy, sweet kind you make on Saturday morning with your kids.  I’m talking about the thin, savoury kind fried in oil until the edges crackle.  The kind you dip in soy sauce.  The kind that tastes good with beer.

I grew up eating savoury pancakes at parties.  They were reserved for special occasions.  Oh, if you were lucky enough to snag a fresh, crispy one straight out of the pan.  They were so good!  Bindaetteok, Pajeon, Haemul Pajeon, Buchim — I loved them all.    

Nowadays, I like to make Kimchi Pancakes for dinner.  Fast, simple, tasty, and filling.  This is really the perfect pantry dinner. You know, for those days when you get home too late and too tired to cook?  This might not be your idea of a proper meal, but that’s the whole point, isn’t it?  

If you want to be fancy, Kimchi Pancakes also make a great appetizer for dinner parties. Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds to make it look pretty.  Guests will be eating them as fast as they are lifted out of the pan.

My favourite way to eat Kimchi Pancake?  Late at night, after the kids have gone to bed, and I’m raving, starving hungry. I’ll chop up kimchi and heat up the cast iron pan.  Within minutes, the first pancake will be sizzling away.

Can I be real with you and say that I don’t even bother with plates or forks or chopsticks?  These taste best straight out of the pan, blazing hot, with all those crispy fried edges.  I’ll dump the finished pancake on the cutting board.  While the next pancake fries away, I’m already tearing into the first one.  It’s not pretty.  Blowing on my fingers, gulping down huge bites, not caring if I look decent or not. Yeah, it’s that good.  

Here’s the method:

Whisk flour, salt, pepper, sugar, and water in a bowl. Make sure there are no lumps.

Add green onion and the kimchi, with all its juices. Mix with a spoon until well combined.

Not going to lie — it doesn’t look pretty here. But don’t worry, it’s going to taste good real soon. It’s time to fry, fry, fry in a cast iron pan.

When you lift the first pancake out of the pan, don’t wait. Eat it quickly, while it burns your fingers and scalds the back of your throat. Life will never taste as good as this moment.