Sauerkraut Jeon (Korean Pancakes)
Published Jan. 13, 2021
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 3tablespoons light soy sauce or shoyu
- 2tablespoons rice vinegar or black vinegar
- 2tablespoons warm water
- 1scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1cup sauerkraut (about 6 ounces), plus ¼ cup sauerkraut juice
- ¼medium red onion (about 2 ounces), thinly sliced
- 2scallions, split lengthwise and cut into 1½-inch pieces
- ¾cup all-purpose flour
- ¼cup cornstarch or potato starch
- 2teaspoons granulated sugar
- Small handful of thinly sliced pickled cherry peppers or peperoncini
- ¾cup cold water
- Peanut, rice bran or soybean oil, as needed, for pan-frying
For the Dipping Sauce
For the Pancakes
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
173 calories; 2 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 729 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the dipping sauce: In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients until the sugar dissolves. Set aside, or prepare in advance and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to several weeks.
- Step 2
Prepare the pancakes: In a large bowl, combine sauerkraut and sauerkraut juice. (If you don’t have enough sauerkraut juice, you can make up the difference with cold water.) Add onion, scallions, flour, starch, sugar, pickled peppers and the cold water. Stir rapidly with a spoon just until no dry flour remains. (Do not overmix the batter.) The batter should be thin enough to flow around when you tilt the bowl.
- Step 3
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in the bottom of a flat-bottomed wok or an 8- to 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high until shimmering. You should be able to make about two 10-inch pancakes or three 8-inch pancakes, or several smaller pancakes. Add enough batter that you can spread it into a thin pancake with the back of a spoon. Let the pancake cook, undisturbed, until the bottom of the pancake is set, about 2 minutes. Use a thin spatula to gently release the pancake from the pan if it is sticking at all. Continue to cook, swirling pancake around to encourage even browning until the first side is well browned with a few darker spots, another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Step 4
Use a wide spatula to carefully flip the pancake. Continue cooking until second side is well browned, about 4 minutes.
- Step 5
Slide the pancake out onto a cutting board, and cook remaining pancake batter, repeating Steps 3 and 4. Once cooked, cut into wedges with a pizza slicer or knife and serve with the prepared dipping sauce.
- This recipe is very versatile. Here are two variations:
- Kimchi, Cabbage and Mushroom Pancakes: Stir-fry or sauté 4 ounces sliced shiitake or cremini mushrooms in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Follow recipe for sauerkraut pancakes, substituting thinly sliced cabbage kimchi and kimchi juice for the sauerkraut and sauerkraut juice, and 2 tablespoons of gochugaru (Korean chile flakes) in place of the pickled peppers. Follow recipe as directed, adding the sautéed mushrooms to the mix in Step 2.
- Garlicky Zucchini and Carrot Pancakes: Cut a small zucchini and a small peeled carrot into fine matchsticks by hand or on a mandoline. Toss with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and set aside in a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl for 15 minutes. Squeeze firmly by hand to express excess liquid. Use the pressed zucchini and carrot in place of sauerkraut and replace sauerkraut juice with ¼ cup of the zucchini-carrot liquid. Replace the pickled cherry peppers with 4 minced garlic cloves. Follow recipe as directed.
Private Notes
Comments
Everyone in my house of 4 conservative diners gave this a thumbs up. The recipe author is a master of technique - he reminds me of Jacques Pepin. Careful attention to technique will reward you; not exact adherence to the recipe. Use what you have. I had leftover tinga chicken and the old jar of sauerkraut. Thank you Mr. Lopez-Alt for expanding our family's world food vocabulary!
I've just made a version of these for lunch and they were SUPERB! No Kimchee or Sauerkraut in my fridge, so I marinated raw hipsi cabbage and chopped spring onions in a mix of garlic/chili sauce, gochaguang, and rice wine vinegar for an hour. I made the batter with GF Flour as that has rice flour in it. One of our supermarkets here sells "Stir Fry Oil" which is flavoured with ginger and sesame and that is what I used to cook. I can see myself making all kinds of variations on these. Thank you!
I've been making a lot of these lately too -- I use sourdough discard in the batter, for even more help cleaning out the fridge....
Korean / Czech household here. The pancakes were great, because we omitted the unnecessary sugar and starch. We used pickled red onion with jalapeño. Delicious.
I used savoy cabbage and found that after it was salted and rinsed it was so reduced that it seemed more like a condiment than a salad. Not sure what I did wrong.
This is phenomenal, especially if you make the Kimchi version -- with or without the mushrooms and cabbage. Use what you have! I've used kimchi, carrots and lots of scallions. Zucchini also works.