Recipes

Savory Fermented Mung Bean Pancakes

March 9, 2017

A traditional Korean street food, fermented mung bean pancakes are typically served with a seasoned soy sauce for dipping. Chef Sohui Kim from The Good Fork in Brooklyn treats them like blinis and tops them with shiso leaves and bright-tasting, pretty trout roe. Kim encourages experimentation—use as much or little kimchi and juice as you like, and leave the fermentation time as long or short as you like, "but I like the funk that develops after 3-4 days," she says. She also notes that, in addition to being gluten-free, the batter can be made vegan if you use vegetarian kimchee. This recipe is adapted from The Good Fork Cookbook.

A traditional Korean street food, fermented mung bean pancakes are typically served with a seasoned soy sauce for dipping. Chef Sohui Kim from Brooklyn’s The Good Fork treats them like blinis and tops them with shiso leaves and bright-tasting, pretty trout roe.

Yield: makes About 24 silver dollar pancakes

Ingredients

2 cups (390 g.) split yellow mung beans
¹⁄₂ cup (50 g.) glutinous rice flour
1 ¹⁄₃ cups (405 g.) chopped kimchee, with juices
1 cup thinly sliced scallions
2 tbsp. Cheong-gochu (Korean green chile) or shishito peppers, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. Holland red chile, or red long hots, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
¹⁄₂ cup caramelized onions (optional)
Kosher salt
Vegetable oil, for frying
Shiso leaves, for serving (optional)
Trout roe, for serving (optional)

Instructions

In a medium bowl, add the mung beans and enough water to cover by several inches. In a small container, add the rice flour and 1 cup water. Let both soak for at least 3 hours. Then drain and rinse the mung beans.
In a food processor, combine the drained mung beans and the rice flour mixture and process until mostly smooth, but with a few chunks so the pancakes have some texture.
Transfer the batter to large bowl, then add the kimchi and juice, the scallions, chile, ginger, garlic, and onions (if using). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least overnight or up to 4 days for more flavor.
When ready to cook, retrieve the batter and season with salt to taste.
In a 10-inch skillet, heat a thin layer of oil over medium to medium-high heat. When it is shimmering, drop scoops of batter into the pan to make pancakes of desired size (add as many as will fit without the pancakes touching). Cook until brown and crisp on the bottom, adding more oil as necessary, 3-4 minutes. Turn and cook on the remaining side, 3-4 minutes more.
Remove the pancakes to a plate and keep warm while you cook the remaining batter. Serve the pancakes warm, garnished with shiso leaves and trout roe, if desired.