These vegan kimchi pancakes or kimchi-jeon 김치전 are my personal favourite.
I honestly love kimchi so much and I was so happy I got to recreate and veganize one of my favourite dishes I grew up enjoying from korean restaurants in the Philippines. I love the flavour of kimchi and how well its spice and tanginess go with these pancakes.
KIMCHI PANCAKES OR KIMCHI JEON
Kimchi-jeon is basically made with kimchi and a little scallions as base—it’s thinner than pajeon but packed with so much flavour from the kimchi!
전 or jeon is Korean for pancake/fritter. There are many different types of 전/jeon and you can make other types of jeon such as yachaejeon (vegetable pancakes – recipe here) and pajeon (scallion/green onion pancakes – recipe here)
I also enjoyed my pancakes with some dipping sauce that adds that extra tastiness to cap off this delicious dish.
VEGAN KIMCHI 김치 FOR THE PANCAKE BATTER
I highly recommend using really fermented kimchi that really packs a flavourful punch.
I like to ferment my homemade vegan kimchi in room temperature first before I store it in the refrigerator to ferment at a slower pace.
Do note that fermentation time can vary depending on your room temperature!
I love to make my own kimchi, but if you’re looking to purchase kimchi, make sure it has no fish sauce or shrimp paste.
You can get my homemade kimchi recipe here.
KIMCHI PANCAKE BATTER
You’ll need:
- all purpose flour
- potato starch or corn starch
- salt
- vegan kimchi, homemade kimchi recipe here
- room temperature water
- kimchi juice, I squeezed my kimchi well to get lots of liquid!
- chopped scallions
Full detailed recipe is in the card down below!
To make: I just mix everything up in a bowl. You may need to add a bit more water if needed, especially if your batter is a bit too thick.
COOKING THE KIMCHI PANCAKES
I love to pan-fry my kimchi to a crisp on the sides before I flip them over. You’l see that it starts to dry up while cooking and then when the batter on top is no longer wet or runny, you can flip it.
After cooking, I like to cut my kimchi pancakes into bite-sized pieces to be able to eat them easier since I eat with chopsticks.
You can also see how I make my kimchi pancake in the video below along with other kimchi recipes!
You’ll find the kimchi jeon and dipping sauce recipes below!
Are you looking for more delicious, vegan recipes?
Get a copy of my upcoming cookbook, Vegan Asian!
If you crave vegan-friendly versions of classic Asian dishes, this cookbook is packed with Southeast and East Asian dishes inspired by those I grew up enjoying at home and those I’ve tried from my travels. From iconic Thai dishes to piping-hot Japanese fare and everything in between, the recipes in this will take your palate on a delicious food trip across Asia, and hopefully keep you coming back for more!
If you make this recipe, please tag me on my Facebook or Instagram and use the hashtag #thefoodietakesflight 🙂
Vegan Korean Kimchi Pancakes, 김치전 or Kimchi-jeon
Ingredients
Kimchi Jeon
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp potato starch or corn starch
- ¼ tsp salt or to taste* see notes
- ¾ cup chopped vegan kimchi** see notes , homemade kimchi recipe here
- 1/2 cup room temperature water , add 1/8 to 1/4 cup or more as needed
- ½ cup kimchi juice , I squeezed my kimchi well to get lots of liquid!
- ¼ cup chopped scallions or spring onions, optional
- 3 tbsp neutral oil or more for cooking
To Serve and Enjoy
- 1 serving homemade dipping sauce , see the dipping sauce recipe here
- Vegan kimchi
- Sundubu Jjigae or Korean Soft Tofu Stew
Instructions
Preparing the Batter
- You can watch the video below to see how to make the pancakes.
- In a mixing bowl, add in flour, potato or corn starch, and salt. Mix well. Mix the kimchi liquid and water together. Slowly add the liquid to the dry mixture while mixing. Mix until you’ve reached a batter consistency. Fold in the sliced kimchi and scallions.
- Mix the batter until well incorporated.
- If your batter is a little too thick, feel free to add around 1/8 to 1/4 cup or more water and then season with a bit of salt if needed. You'll want a batter that's not too thick and easy to spread to be able to make thin and crisp pancakes.
- Mix the batter well and then prepare a large spoon or ladle for cooking.
Cooking the Pancakes
- Heat a medium-sized non-stick pan or skillet over medium high heat. Note that the size of your pancake will depend on the size of your pan. Add a generous amount of oil.
- Pour in around 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the batter. Note that this will depend on the size of your pan. You can evenly spread out the batter and piece sof kimchi until you have a pancake that should be around be around ¼ to ½-inch thick. Cook the pancake for 3-4 minutes on medium heat.
- Once the sides start to dry up, carefully scrape the sides with a spatula to ensure it hasn’t stuck to the pan. Once the pancake is crispy and has some brown spots underneath, carefully flip the pancake with a spatula. Cook the other side until brown and crisp. Repeat this for the rest of the batter.
- Transfer the pancakes on to a plate or chopping board. You can slice them into smaller pieces. This is best enjoyed with a good dipping sauce! See the dipping sauce recipe here.
- How to enjoy your jeon? I love mine with a hearty Sundubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew) or Jjajangmyeon. Best enjoyed with some Vegan Kimchi, too!
WATCH Video
Notes
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 14 Comments
Delicious ?
Hi Maria, glad you enjoyed them 🙂 thank you!
My kimchi is bit dry, how can I make more liquid? I want to use it up hence making the pancakes. Let it marinate in more vinegar?
Hi Marie! Please don’t add vinegar! Kimchi actually doesn’t normally have vinegar–it gets its sour flavour from the fermentation process. Some kimchi brands may not have much juices since it was probably salted and eventually drained out (when you soak the cabbage in salt with a bit of water it releases its liquid so by the time it ferments, the vegetables itself don’t have much liquid left cause they’ve been drained and squeezed out). If your the cabbage in your kimchi is still very crunchy and they don’t look like they’ve been squeezed out so much, you can opt to add some salt to help drain out the water from the cabbage. Though this can cause your kimchi to turn saltier as it sits in the liquid but that’ll be okay for making kimchi pancakes, just not for eating directly. Hope this helps!
Oh and I also have a homemade vegan kimchi recipe if you want to give that a try.
So good!! My kimchi didn’t have much juice so I added a bit more water and a little gochujang to make up the difference and they were just perfect. I also made the dipping sauce, which was a nice addition.
Thanks os much Jaynie! Using a mix of water + gochujang is def a good idea!
These pancakes are so good. As stated in another comment I added a little more water with gojuchang as my kimchi was a bit dry too. Would definitely make these again, very tasty.
Thank you Pauline, really happy you like it! Adding gochujang is def a good idea to add, especially for dry kimchi ◡̈
So damn delicious! I didn’t know what to expect, so it was a wild run, but oh my, this was divine! another brilliant recipe! thank you very much
Happy you like it Aida!! I love kimchi pancakes!
Are these something I can make and have available to eat later in the week?
Hi Jamie! Yes i love making these in big batches and I cook them all. After cooking, I cool the leftovers and like to stack them and store them in a container or wrapped in some foil. Then I just reheat each one on a pan again until crisp. Hope this helps!
Yes just made your pancakes. They were terrific. I definitely will keep this in my repertoire. I love fast food that is healthy quick and easy to reheat. Thanks for the recipe.
Really so happy reading this. Thanks so much Sheila! ◡̈