Kimchi Jeon (Kimchi Pancake) #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

I jumped at this recipe because we love kimchi. We first came across the salted, seasoned, fermented vegetable Korean dish in the 80s in the produce section of our local grocery store in the northeast corner of Tennessee—hardly a cosmopolitan area at the time. It came in a large glass jar that showed mostly cabbage leaves packed in a brine red with seasonings and spices. Yum! It became a favorite even of our small boys.

The kimchi adds nice zip to this savory supper pancake. It reminds me of a recipe for zucchini egg foo young I used to make when we had enough sun in our yard to grow too many zucchinis.

I doubled the recipe to feed four. That’s easy enough to do, and I followed the cookbook’s suggestion of making the batter in two batches and cooking one pancake after the other.

Someday I might try making my own kimchi. If I do, and it works, you’ll see it posted here at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen.  

 

You’ll find a free, downloadable, printable pdf of the recipe below the cooking directions.

Kimchi Jeon

Adapted from The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen

Serves 2 

Ingredients for Dipping Sauce

5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar

5 tablespoons plus 1 soy sauce

5 tablespoons plus 1 water

1 1/2 teaspoons unseasoned rice vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

Ingredients for Pancake

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 large egg white

1 cups cabbage kimchi, drained with 2 tablespoons juice reserved, chopped coarse.

3 scallions, white parts sliced thin, green parts cut into 1-inch piece lengths

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

 

Directions

For the dipping sauce

Simmer all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

For the pancake(s)

Whisk flour, egg white, and reserved kimchi juice together in a large bowl. Stir in the scallions and kimchi until combined.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 10-inch nonstick (or well-seasoned cast iron) skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the pancake batter and spread into an even layer. Cook until well browned around the edges, about 4 minutes. Run a spatula around the edge of the pancake and shake to loosen. Slide the pancake onto a large plate.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Invert the pancake onto a second large plate, then slide it, browned side up, back into the skillet. Cook until the pancake is well browned on the second side, about 4 minutes. Slide the pancake onto a cutting board, cut into wedges, and serve with the dipping sauce.

 

 

🍳click here for a free, downloadable, printable pdf of this recipe🍳

 

 

Now available for pre-order – All Shell Breaks Loose

book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

 

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

  

Happy reading!

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.