Korean veggie pancakes offer a fresh twist on classic recipes

Until recently, I thought that potato or zucchini pancakes had no competition. They were the best! That was until I discovered a recipe for vegetable pancakes from Korea. Asians mix several vegetables, and the result is excellent. The delicious sesame sauce adds the perfect finishing touch!

Are you a bit bored with traditional potato pancakes or those made with zucchini? I was, having prepared them many times during the summer, so I sought a new recipe for inspiration.

Asian-style vegetable pancakes are definitely richer in ingredients and flavor. You can safely call them multi-vegetable. Even though they come from Korea, they are based on vegetables that you surely have in your kitchen or can easily get at a market. The typical Asian ingredients are needed for the sauce. Does having more ingredients make these pancakes labor-intensive? Absolutely not; you can easily prepare them for a warm dinner. They are also suitable for lunch because they are filling.

Ingredients:

• 1 small zucchini
• 1 medium carrot
• 3.5 ounces of red cabbage
• Chives or green onions to taste
• A piece of chili pepper
• 1.5 cups of all-purpose or spelt flour
• 2 eggs
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

For the sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Preparation:

1. Grate the zucchini on a coarse grater. Sprinkle with salt, mix, and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Thinly shred the cabbage, cut the chives into long pieces, slice the chili, and grate the carrot on a coarse grater.
3. Squeeze the excess liquid from the zucchini, but do not discard it.
4. In a bowl, combine the flour, a pinch of salt, 2 eggs, and about 4.4 fluid ounces of the drained liquid from the zucchini. Mix to form a smooth batter. You can add a little more water from the zucchini or fresh water if needed. The batter should be the consistency of thick pancake batter.
5. Add all the vegetables and the drained zucchini to the batter and mix well.
6. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pan. Spoon heaping tablespoons of the batter into the pan and flatten with the spoon to form pancakes. Fry for a few minutes on each side until golden brown.
7. In a small bowl, prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients. Serve the pancakes with the prepared sauce.