John’s favorite weekend breakfast is griddle cakes. I have to agree, they are delicious with pats of salty butter and maple syrup. But the sweet breakfast pancake has savory relatives, one of which is this kimchi pancake. It is mildly spicy, with a tangy flavor from the kimchi and delightfully crispy around the edges. I couldn’t resist adding Bacon Spam to the pancake. Yum.
Use your favorite kimchi in these pancakes. Mild or spicy, either one works.
Don’t dismiss the idea of using Bacon Spam, it adds an abundance of flavor. But, you can skip it if you are not a Spam fan.
Lots of green onions (scallions) adds an additional depth of flavor to the pancakes. Chopped, thinly sliced, or slivered are all acceptable.
The dipping sauce is a simple combination of soy sauce, rice vinegar, a dash a sugar, Korean chili flakes and roasted sesame seeds. Serve the sauce with the pancakes and a drizzle of sriracha.
- Dipping Sauce:
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Korean chili flakes (or dash of red pepper flakes)
- ¼ teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
- Pancakes:
- 2½ ounces (3 thin slices) bacon Spam, cut into thin slices and fried until crisp (drain on paper towel lined plate)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup rice flour
- 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
- ¾ cup cold seltzer water
- ½ teaspoons sesame oil
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup kimchi, coarsely chopped
- 4 green onions, sliced thinly
- canola oil for frying
- In a small bowl combine sugar with the rice vinegar, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Add soy sauce, Korean chili flakes, and sesame seeds. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour and rice flour. Add the egg, seltzer water, sesame oil, and salt. Whisk until just combined. Add kimchi, fried Spam and green onions. Stir to combine.
- Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a 9-inch skillet between medium - medium high heat. Once oil is shimmering, pour half of the pancake batter into the pan. Quickly spread the batter to make a thin pancake. Cook for 3 minutes or so, until the bottom is golden and crisp, adjusting the heat as necessary so the pancake does not burn. Carefully flip the pancake and cook another 2 -3 minutes until nicely browned.
- Slide pancake onto a large plate. Add more oil to the pan and cook the second pancake.
- Scatter reserved green onions over the top of the pancakes along with roasted sesame seeds. Serve with sriracha and dipping sauce.
