Vegan Korean Kimchi Pancakes, 김치전 or Kimchi-jeon

5 from 10 votes

Vegan kimchi pancakes or kimchi-jeon 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 here. 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! I highly recommend using really fermented kimchi that really packs a flavourful punch.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Asian, East Asian, Korean

Servings small pancakes

Calories 192 kcal

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

Salt: The salt may depend on the flavour of your kimchi and the liquid. Feel free to adjust according to desired to taste.

Vegan Kimchi: Make sure to use kimchi that has no fish sauce or shrimp paste/powder! Squeeze your kimchi well to get the liquid!

NUTRITIONAL INFO

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