
Crispy Zucchini Pancakes (Hobak buchimgae)
Easy Korean Zucchini fritters that is great as appetizer, side dish (banchan) for any Korean meal. Serve hot or room temp. Serve with soy vinegar dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 large Korean Zucchini (Hobahk) or 2 small Italian zucchini, ¼ in thick sticks (should make approx 2 C)
- 1/2 onion
- 2-3 green chili peppers (optional)
- 1/3 Cup all purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp Korean Tempura Mix (튀김 가루 Twigim Garoo – see my yache twigim post for pic)
- 6 Tbsp water
- 1 tsp Sea Salt (Trader Joe's) (for flash pickling)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
For the sauce
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- dash of red pepper powder (optional)
Instructions
- Cut Zucchini into 1/4 in slices and then into match sticks. One zucchini should make about 2 cups
- Peel and slice onion into thin slices. Similar thickness as the zucchini.
- Sprinkle some sea salt (about 1 tsp per2 C) on the zucchini and toss them. Make sure the salt is evenly distributed throughout. Leave them salted for 5-7 min
- Gently squeeze out excess water from the zucchini sticks.
- In a large bowl, add the zucchini stick, sliced onions and then flour, water and tempura mix. Mix with your hands gently until fully mixed. The consistency should be like pancake batter or drinkable yogurt. The amount of batter should not be more than the vegetable.
- On medium high, heat a non-stick frying pan or cast iron pan with about 1 ~ 2 T of oil. You can make one large pancake but also make several smaller pancakes.
- Fry until the edges become brown. 3 min or so on each side but results will vary.
- Turn it over when the bottom side edges become golden brown.
- Add more oil (1T or more) after turning it over.
- When both sides have browned, move it to a cutting board and cut the buchimgae into bite size pieces.
- Best served hot with some soy sauce + vinegar sauce mixture.
Make Dipping Sauce
- Make the Soy Vinegar dipping sauce by mixing 2 Tbs soy sauce and 1 Tbs rice vinegar. Optionally, you can add chopped green onions, sesame seeds and even a dash of red chili powder.
Notes
- Variations/Substitutions
- Variations/Substitutions
- Storage/Reheating Tips/Serving ideas
- Storage/Reheating Tips/Serving ideas
instead of tempura batter mix, substitute
1/2 C flour + 6~7 T water + 1/2 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 C flour + 6~7 T water + 1/2 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp sugar
use any combination of the following ingredients with or without zucchini
calamari, shrimp, scallops, clams, imitation crab meat green onions, chinese chives, kkaetnip, Korean green chili peppers, shishito peppers, annaheim peppers, jalapeno peppers
- calamari, shrimp, scallops, clams, imitation crab meat
- green onions, chinese chives, kkaetnip, Korean green chili peppers, shishito peppers, annaheim peppers, jalapeno peppers
substitute or add the following into the batter:
sweet rice flour, potato flour you can also add an egg if you want some additional richness, just reduce the amount of water
- sweet rice flour, potato flour
- you can also add an egg if you want some additional richness, just reduce the amount of water
- keep at cool room temp for 6-8 hrs and can be served at room temperature
- keep in fridge for few days
- taste best when reheated in the frying pan. usually no additional oil is needed
- great as afternoon snacks for kids, doshirak(lunchbox) banchan and party dish since you can make this in advance and no reheating is necessary
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 4people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 219
% Daily Value*
Calories | 219kcal | 11% |
Carbohydrates | 12g | 4% |
Protein | 2g | 4% |
Fat | 18g | 28% |
Saturated Fat | 14g | 70% |
Sodium | 350mg | 15% |
Potassium | 168mg | 4% |
Fiber | 1g | 4% |
Sugar | 1g | 2% |
Vitamin A | 125IU | 3% |
Vitamin C | 11.1mg | 12% |
Calcium | 11mg | 1% |
Iron | 0.7mg | 4% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.