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Hobak Buchim (Korean Zucchini Pancakes)

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This is a great side-dish to go with our bibimbap recipe (link here)! You can also eat these as a snack or light lunch. The tender scallions impart freshness, and the zucchini remains juicy and flavourful. Unlike a traditional American pancake, this one uses a variety of vegetables to add extra fibre to your diet! This dish is traditionally made in the springtime since it uses spring vegetables such as green onions. You can also add some seafood to them like pre-cooked shrimp for added protein. When making this dish, you can either make the pancakes smaller or cook one large pancake for later. Either way, this dish is oh-so-yummy and will surely be a crowd-pleaser!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 medium zucchini about 8 ounces
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 medium sweet onion thinly sliced
  • 2 green hot chili peppers thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup buchim garu (Korean savory pancake mix) or flour (see note)
  • 1 large egg (omit for a vegan version and add some water)
  • vegetable or canola oil for frying

DIPPING SAUCE:

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • pinch of black pepper
  • pinch gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes)

Instructions

  1. Cut the zucchini into matchsticks. Place them in a bowl, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes until wilted and released some liquid. Squeeze the liquid out from the zucchini as much as possible, reserving the liquid in the bowl. Set the zucchini aside.
  2. Add the egg and pancake mix (or flour) to the bowl with the zucchini squeezed mix. Mix everything well with a spoon, and then combine with the zucchini, onion and chili peppers. The zucchini mix may look stiff when mixing, but it will become more liquidy after a few minutes. If it’s still too stiff, mix in some water (2 to 3 tablespoons to start with).
  3. Heat a skillet with two tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Add about 2 heaping tablespoons of the batter and spread it evenly into a thin round shape. Depending on the size of your pan, you can cook 3 to 4 pancakes at once. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the bottom is light golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat the process with the remaining batter. Serve hot with a dipping sauce.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://nutritionwell.ca/blog/921-2/