Here’s a fun, sneaky way to get your child to eat some veggies. Korean vegetable pancakes are usually eaten as an appetizer or snack and served with soy sauce. If you have an Asian grocery store close by, you can buy the pancake mix called buchim and just add the chopped vegetables. If you don’t have one handy, you can follow this recipe. For younger children, talk about the names of the different vegetables. Older kids can peel the veggies and do some slicing if you think they're ready. This dish is delicious way to get your child cooking as you introduce her to recipes from different cultures.
What You Need:
- Mixing bowl
- Spoon
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Vegetable peeler
- ½ carrot
- ½ zucchini
- ¼ white onion
- 1 green onion
- Green chili pepper-optional
- ½ cup flour
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp salt
- Soy sauce
- Vinegar
- Tiny bowl for sauce
- Vegetable oil
- Medium frying pan
- Plate
- Optional: Spam (Try it! It's tasty!)
What You Do:
- Have your child peel the carrot and wash the zucchini. Julienne (or, cut into very thin strips) all the vegetables as well as ¼ of the Spam.
- Have your child can combine the flour, water, egg, and salt in a mixing bowl using a whisk. Fold in the chopped veggies with a spatula.
- Thinly coat the bottom of your skillet with vegetable oil. Heat the oil on medium to medium high heat, depending on your stove top.
- After the oil is hot, gently drop 1 cup of the mixture into the pan. Depending on how large your skillet is, you may only want to make one pancake at a time, in which case, be sure to cook the pancake in the center of your frying pan.
- Fry the pancake until golden on both sides. Be sure not to overcook.
- Place a paper towel onto a plate and let the pancake cool on the towel to drain off any excess oil.
- For the dipping sauce, mix 1 part soy sauce and 1 part either water or vinegar (depending on your taste) in a small bowl.
- Koreans cut the pancake into big rectangular strips to be dipped into the soy mixture. Or you can rip it apart with your chopsticks and eat it like that.
Korean homes are traditionally heated through the floor, so many families sit on thin pillows at a low table when they eat their meals. For an authentic feel, try sitting on the floor at a coffee table and enjoy these Korean vegetable pancakes with family or friends. This makes a great dish for breakfast, lunch, dinner or any meal for that matter!
By Tina Cho
Tina Cho has been an elementary teacher for 11 years, mainly in the kindergarten classroom. She is currently a freelance writer.
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