Kimchi Pancake is a classic Korean dish made with extra fermented kimchi. It’s crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, spicy, and savory with a kick. It’s all textures and flavors in one!
As Koreans, we love kimchi and we also love to turn it into different dishes. Some of them are Tuna Kimchi Jjigae, Kimchi Fried Rice, Kimchi Pasta, and of course Kimchi Pancake. There may be different kimchi presentations, but they all provide a comforting flavor no matter the mood or weather.
In Korean BBQ, Kimchi Pancake is often served as a banchan that people can munch on while waiting for the meat to cook. Depending on the ingredients you add, this can be an appetizer, a snack, a side dish, or even a filling meal.
Kimchi Pancake Ingredients
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Fermented Kimchi
For this recipe, use fermented kimchi–one that has been sitting for more than 2 weeks. This way they are deeply spicy and sour, and when you cook it, the flavors will continue to develop. Remember, all kimchi tastes different! Ensure that you have good quality and delicious kimchi because the pancake’s overall flavor will depend on it.
Pancake Batter
- All Purpose Flour and Potato Starch – Use equal parts of these for the base of the pancake. While you can use all-purpose flour only, the potato starch helps make the pancake crispy. Alternatively, you can use cornstarch in place of potato starch.
- Water and Kimchi Juice – Use equal parts of these to hydrate the batter. The kimchi juice will add extra flavor and color.
- Egg – Egg is optional but you can put one to help with binding and additional flavor. You can skip this if you want to keep the pancake vegetarian or vegan.
- Sesame Oil – Essentially, Kimchi + Pork + Sesame Oil = Trifecta of Flavors. This one will definitely elevate your pancake!
- Garlic, Salt, and Pepper – Season gradually since the kimchi has flavor already. A little bit of these will go a long way! Consider also whether you want to use a dipping sauce–if you’ll be using one, season less; If you won’t be using one, season more.
Other Additions
- Onion and Scallions – For additional aroma
- Any Choice of Protein – Ground pork, thinly sliced pork belly, frozen seafood, ham, chorizo, etc. This will make the pancake more hearty and make a great meal! Alternatively, you can skip the meat to make it vegetarian.
How to make Kimchi Jeon?
Prepare the Ingredients
Prepare the kimchi by roughly cutting them using scissors in a bowl. This way you’ll have small and big chunks and they don’t stain in your chopping board.
For the onions and scallions, slice them julienne or in 3-inch pieces so that as they cook, they crisscross and help bind the pancake. I also recommend adding more scallions so that there is a pretty contrast in color when your pancake is done.
For the choice of protein, roughly chop them so you can randomly get chunks of meat in every bite!
Make the Pancake Batter
Combine all-purpose flour, potato starch, water, kimchi juice, garlic, sesame oil, salt, and pepper. Mix this thoroughly, then check the consistency–you want it a bit thick! Taste and adjust the seasoning before adding any egg or raw meat.
Combine the Batter, Kimchi, and Other Ingredients
Add the kimchi, aromatics, and choice of protein into the batter, then mix it well. You want each component to be covered with the batter. Then again, check the consistency. It should still be a bit thick. To adjust–if it’s a bit thick, add flour and potato starch. If it’s too thick, you can add water and kimchi juice. The rule of thumb is to just add 1 tablespoon at a time.
Cook the Kimchi Pancake Using 2-2-2-2 Rule
Once the pancake batter is prepared, you’ll need to heat up your 10-12-inch pan with a good amount of oil. You want to see a little bit of white smoke as it’s heating up.
When you start to see the smoke, grab a big handful of the batter, shape it into the pan, and flat it out evenly. You have about 30 seconds to do this, otherwise you won’t be able to reshape your jeon later on. Once it is placed well, the smoke should start to tone down.
I made cooking the pancake very simple for everyone—2 minutes on high heat for both sides and 2 minutes on medium heat for both sides. All in all, it’s 8 minutes of cooking time, and you’ll be flipping it 4 times. Add a round of oil in the edges in every flip because this will also help crisp up the pancake.
Other tips for cooking kimchi jeon:
- Nonstick pans and big spatulas help make it easier to flip the pancake. Make sure to use these if you have them.
- Before flipping, you can try swirling the pancake around to make sure that the bottom is ready to be flipped. Swirling around also helps unstick it from the pan.
- When you flip, flip away from you so that the oil does not splatter on you. After flipping, flat it out evenly again so it shapes well.
- If you see growing white smoke, it means it’s starting to burn. Watch out for it, let the pancake brown up a bit, then flip as needed.
- To know if it is done, you can beat the pancake a little and the batter should not be oozing out in the holes anymore. It should also be nicely golden brown.
How to make Kimchi Pancake CRISPY??
As a general rule, many factors contribute to a crispy kimchi pancake. One, use potato starch and extra oil. Two, the consistency of the batter should not be too thick nor too loose. Three, be patient in cooking it until it’s nicely golden brown.
What to eat Kimchi Pancake with?
Kimchi Pancakes can be served in many ways! It can be an appetizer to your Korean BBQ, a side dish in your bento box, a snack on its own, or simply served with a bowl of freshly steamed rice. It can go with a soy-based dipping sauce or mayonnaise, or if seasoned well, it can be good on its own!
This is also every Korean’s favorite rainy-day dish! I don’t know why but when it’s raining, we just want a warm plate of kimchi pancake with some makgeolli on the side. Yeobosayo!
How do you store leftover Kimchi Pancakes?
Kimchi Pancake actually freezes well, so you can simply make a big batch in advance and you can reheat it in the oven until crispy or in the pan with a little bit of water for steam until it has crisped up again.
Other Korean snack recipes you might like:
- Kimchi Fries
- Spicy Dried Squid
- Crab Cakes
- Potato Pancake
- Roasted Sweet Potato with Kimchi
- Candied Sweet Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Pancake
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Kimchi Pancake (Kimchi Jeon)
Equipment
- Nonstick Pan
- Big Spatula
Ingredients
- Vegetable or Canola Oil For frying
- 1/2 of Whole Onion Julienne
- 2 stalks Scallions Sliced lengthwise before chopping into 3-inch pieces
- 1 cup Kimchi Cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup Pork Chopped into bitesize pieces
Kimchi Pancake Batter
- 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Potato Starch
- 1/3 cup Water
- 1/3 cup Kimchi Juice
- 1/4 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1/4 tbsp Sesame Oil
- Salt and Pepper To taste
- 1 pc Egg
Instructions
- Make the batter by combining flour, potato starch, water, kimchi juice, garlic, sesame oil, salt, and pepper. Mix it well, taste, and adjust.
- Add the egg, and mix again. The batter should be slightly thick but not too thick at this point.
- Add the onion, scallions, kimchi, and pork. Mix well until everything is coated well by the batter.
- Check the batter again, it should not be too loose. If it is loose, add flour and potato starch. If it’s too thick, add water and kimchi juice. Do this 1 tablespoon at a time until the correct consistency is reached.
- Heat up the pan with a generous amount of oil until you see white smoke forming.
- Place a handful of batter in the pan and shape it into a flat circle. You only have 30 seconds to do this otherwise you won’t be able to reshape it again.
- Do the 2-2-2-2 rule: 2 minutes on high heat on both sides, and 2 minutes on medium heat on both sides. 8 minutes and 4 flips in total. In every flip, place a round of oil on the edges of the pan to crisp up the pancake.
- To check if it is done, you can beat it a little and the hole should not ooze out any more wet batter. The exterior should also be nicely golden brown.
- Serve with makgeolli and enjoy!
I’ve made lots of kimchi pancakes and most of them have been awful. I’ve used the dry mixes and tried different recipes. They’ve always been too soft, too oily, or burnt. I’m a pretty decent home cook so it was frustrating!
Today, I finally made a crisp and delicious kimchi pancake with this recipe. It’s so good!! This will be my go-to recipe. Thanks, Chef Chris!
So glad it worked out for you and you can now have crispy and delicious kimchi pancake anytime!! Ooooh!
Thanks for the detailed steps.
I gotchu!!
Thanks for sharing!! So much better than my other attempts at Kimchi Pancake.
Yey! Glad it worked out well for you!!