Korean Vegetable Pancake (Yachaejeon)
Crispy, savory Korean vegetable pancakes loaded with scallions, carrots, and zucchini. Maangchi's beloved yachaejeon recipe with a tangy soy-vinegar dipping sauce.
Health Scores
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup potato starch (or cornstarch)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups ice-cold water
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 4 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 medium carrot, julienned
- 1/2 medium zucchini, julienned
- 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (for frying)
- Dipping Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- 1
Whisk together the flour, potato starch, and salt in a large bowl. Add the ice-cold water and beaten egg, and stir until just combined. The batter should be thin — thinner than western pancake batter.
Tip: Ice-cold water is essential. Cold batter hitting hot oil creates maximum crispiness — the same principle behind tempura. Room temperature water makes a limp pancake.
- 2
Add the scallions, carrot, zucchini, bell pepper, and onion to the batter. Fold gently to coat all the vegetables evenly.
- 3
Make the dipping sauce: combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, gochugaru, sesame seeds, and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
- 4
Heat a large non-stick skillet or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and swirl to coat.
- 5
Pour about one-third of the batter into the pan, spreading it into a thin, even circle about 8-9 inches across. Press the vegetables flat with the back of a spatula.
Tip: Thin is crispy. Thick is doughy. Spread the batter as thin as you can while still holding together. The vegetables should be barely coated, not swimming in batter.
- 6
Cook for 3-4 minutes until the bottom is deeply golden and crispy. Drizzle a little extra oil around the edges — this is what creates the shatteringly crispy rim.
- 7
Flip the pancake (use a plate if needed — slide onto plate, invert back into pan). Cook another 3 minutes, pressing down firmly with the spatula to maximize contact with the pan.
Tip: Pressing down is the opposite of what you do with western pancakes. Here, pressing creates more surface contact and more crunch. Push firmly and evenly.
- 8
Slide onto a cutting board, cut into wedges, and serve immediately with the dipping sauce.
Why This Recipe Works
- Potato starch + flour creates a dual-texture batter: the flour provides structure, the starch provides shattering crispiness. Neither alone achieves the same result.
- Ice-cold water mimics tempura technique — cold batter in hot oil creates steam pockets that fry into crunchy air bubbles.
- Thin batter, lots of vegetables means maximum crunch and flavor. The batter is a binder, not the star.
- Pressing during cooking increases surface contact with the hot pan, creating more Maillard reaction and more crunch.
- Soy-vinegar dipping sauce cuts through the richness with acid and salt, making each bite refreshing.
Korean Pancakes vs. Western Pancakes
Korean jeon (전) flips everything you know about pancakes on its head. Where western pancakes are thick, fluffy, and sweet, Korean pancakes are thin, crispy, and savory. Where you avoid pressing an American pancake, you press a Korean pancake firmly to maximize crunch. Where buttermilk pancakes celebrate the batter, yachaejeon celebrates the filling.
The key ingredient that western cooks don't know about is potato starch. When mixed with flour and fried in oil, potato starch creates an incredibly crispy shell — lighter and crunchier than flour alone. It's the same reason Korean fried chicken is crispier than its American counterpart. The starch molecules create a glass-like network when dehydrated by hot oil.
Maangchi's recipe represents the home-style Korean cooking tradition. This isn't a restaurant-fussy dish — it's what Korean families make with whatever vegetables are in the fridge. The technique is forgiving and the results are consistently addictive.
Step-by-Step Guide
The batter comes together in 30 seconds — flour, potato starch, salt, cold water, egg, whisk. It should be noticeably thinner than American pancake batter. Thin enough to pour easily but thick enough to coat a spoon. If it's thick, add more cold water a tablespoon at a time.
Julienne your vegetables thin and uniform. This matters because thick pieces create lumps that don't make full contact with the pan. Thin slices mean more surface area, more crunch, and more even cooking. The scallions get cut into 2-inch lengths so they lay flat in the pan.
Fold the vegetables into the batter — they should be coated but not drowning. Think of the batter as glue that holds the vegetables together into a cohesive pancake.
The pan needs to be hot with a generous amount of oil. Not deep-frying amounts, but more than you'd use for American pancakes. Spread the batter thin, press the vegetables flat, and let it sizzle undisturbed for 3-4 minutes. The edges will start to brown and curl. This is when you drizzle a little more oil around the perimeter — this oil ring fries the edges into the crispiest part of the whole pancake.
Flip with confidence. If the pancake is too large to flip with a spatula, slide it onto a plate and invert it back into the pan. Cook the second side while pressing down firmly. Cut into wedges, dip in the soy-vinegar sauce, and eat immediately. Crispiness waits for no one.
Tips & Tricks
- ✓Potato starch is the secret to crispiness. It creates a lighter, crunchier coating than all-purpose flour alone. If you can't find it, cornstarch works but is slightly less crispy.
- ✓The batter-to-vegetable ratio should favor the vegetables. You want just enough batter to hold everything together — these are vegetable pancakes, not batter pancakes with vegetables.
- ✓Get the oil hot before adding batter. A cold pan absorbs oil into the batter instead of frying the surface. You should hear an immediate sizzle.
- ✓Julienne the vegetables thin and uniform. Thick pieces won't cook through and create lumpy spots that don't crisp.
- ✓Serve within 5 minutes of cooking. Korean pancakes lose their crispiness quickly. If making multiple, keep finished ones on a wire rack in a 250°F oven.
- ✓For extra crispy edges, drizzle a ring of oil around the pancake halfway through cooking each side. The oil fries the edges to a shattering crunch.
Variations & Substitutions
| Ingredient | Substitute | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Potato starch | Cornstarch | Slightly less crispy but widely available |
| Scallions | Garlic chives (buchu) | Traditional Korean alternative, more pungent |
| All-purpose flour | Korean pancake mix (buchimgaru) | Pre-seasoned and formulated for optimal crispiness — even easier |
| Gochugaru | Aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper | Less sweet and smoky than gochugaru but adds heat |
| Rice vinegar | Apple cider vinegar | Slightly fruitier, works in a pinch |
Storage & Reheating
- Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container for 1-2 days. They will lose crispiness.
- Freezer: Freeze cooked pancakes on a sheet pan, then stack in a freezer bag. Good for 1 month.
- Reheating: Reheat in a hot skillet with a little oil to restore crispiness. The oven at 400°F for 5 minutes also works. Never microwave — it turns them into rubber.
Nutrition Information
Per serving (serves 4)
| Calories | 220 |
| Total Fat | 10g |
| Saturated Fat | 1g |
| Cholesterol | 45mg |
| Sodium | 680mg |
| Carbohydrates | 28g |
| Fiber | 2g |
| Sugar | 3g |
| Protein | 5g |