How To Make Korean Pancakes, AKA Yachaejeon

Lemon and sugar traditionalists may shun the idea of vegetable pancakes, but the Korean dish, known as yachaejeon, is having a moment. As we approach Shrove Tuesday next week, Waitrose has reported a 350 percent surge in searches for Korean-style vegetable pancakes, while recipe videos for the dish are trending on TikTok. 

What Are Korean Vegetable Pancakes?

Yachaejeon is the Korean way to do pancakes (yachae means vegetables, jeon means pancakes). The dish can be customised in many ways, but it involves creating a batter with traditional ingredients like eggs and flour, then adding vegetables such as sweet potato, onions and courgettes, plus cornstarch or potato starch to prevent gluten development, therefore making the pancakes crispier. 

The batter is then cooked as you would with any other pancakes: fried with butter or oil in a pan until golden, then flipped – resulting in a kind of fritter/pancake hybrid. Korean pancakes are often served with a dipping sauce, made with ingredients like soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar. They’re best eaten right away, although they could be reheated in the air fryer. 

For a vegan twist on the dish, you could substitute the egg for one of these alternatives, and although flour is an essential binding ingredient, a gluten-free alternative would also work for those with an intolerance.

@londonbruncher Korean vegetable pancakes – recipe on my Instagram #easyrecipe #healthyrecipe #vegan #foodie #foryou ♬ original sound – London Bruncher

Korean Vegetable Pancakes Recipe

Keen to give them a try? Waitrose has shared an easy recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 100g plain flour
• 150ml vegetable stock
• 200g Savoy cabbage, thinly shredded
• 1 small leek, thinly shredded
• 1 carrot, coarsely grated
• 3 tsp Gochujang Chilli Paste (approx. 2-3 tsp)
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

To serve:

• 200g jasmine rice, cooked
• 4 salad onions, shredded
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• Optional: 2 tbsp sriracha or other chilli sauce (approx. 1-2 tbsp)

Method:

1. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, flour and stock. Stir in the cabbage, leek, carrot and Gochujang paste.
2. Heat a little of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and gently cook spoonfuls of the mixture in batches for 4-5 minutes on each side until crisp and cooked through. Keep warm while you cook the remaining pancakes.
3. Serve the pancakes with cooked rice, scatter over the salad onions and sesame seeds and a little drizzle of chilli sauce, if using.