Korean food is what I grew up on and it’s still one of my cuisines that tastes like home to me. When I found out that I have a gluten sensitivity years ago, I had to give up on one of my favorite Korean foods: savory pancakes. I can’t even describe to you the amount of bliss I felt when I ate those crispy pancakes with various fillings (kimchi and seafood were my favorites), along with Korean rice wine to wash it all down. It’s a divine combo that I still dream about.
One type of Korean pancake that I DO still eat are potato pancakes. They are delicious and doesn’t require any type of flour to hold them together. The starch in the potatoes does the job on its own, making it an excellent gluten-free choice for me when I’m dining out at a Korean restaurant.
I love how crispy and salty these are and they are perfect when I have a carb craving that needs to be satisfied in a healthy way. Plus, it reminds me of my mom’s cooking. She made some mean savory pancakes when we were growing up.
You can served them laid out flat or stacked up like breakfast pancakes. Just remember to eat them with chopsticks (for the authentic experience) and don’t forget the dipping sauce!
Korean-Style Potato & Scallion Pancakes
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 1 lb potatoes
- 1 bunch scallions (about 6 stalks), chopped
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Coconut oil, for frying
Dipping sauce
- 2 tbsp tamari sauce or coconut aminos
- 2 tsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp maple syrup
- A sprinkle of Korean red chili powder (optional)
Instructions
- Chop up the potatoes into 1 inch chunks.
- Place the chopped potatoes with salt in a food processor or a blender, and blend until creamy.
- Pour the blended mixture over a fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes.
- The liquid from the mixture should drip down into the bowl. You can press down lightly with a spoon to speed up the process.
- Transfer the potato mixture into a large bowl.
- Take the strained liquid and slowly pour it out. The starch residue from the potato should be resting at the bottom of the bowl. Discard the liquid, but keep the starch and stir it back in with the potato mixture.
- Stir in chopped scallions and mix well.
- Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
- Pour in a little bit of the potato and scallion batter, and spread out into 3-4 inch discs. Add as many discs as you can fit on the pan. Let them cook for 1 minute until the bottom turns gold brown and crispy, pressing down lightly with a spatula.
- Turn the discs over and cook for additional 30-40 seconds. Remove from pan.
- Add more coconut oil, and cook the the rest of batter the same way.
- Make the dipping sauce by combining all ingredients into a small bowl.
- Serve pancakes with the dipping sauce.
I am very excited to try out this recipe as these are my favorite before I was vegan and gluten free but are the potates steamed and then blended ??
No, they aren’t cooked. Raw potatoes are soft enough to blend so just follow the steps and it’ll turn out fine!