A Delicious, Korean-Inspired Way To Make The Most Of Your Leftover Vegetables

If you're staring at half-used zucchinis, browning carrots, and shriveling mushrooms at the bottom of your vegetable crisper, wondering whether to just throw them out, let this article be the voice in your ear telling you not to. Wasting leftover vegetables is a tragedy you can avoid by transforming veggie scraps into delicious Korean-inspired pancakes known as Pajeon.

Just as all kinds of vegetables can be combined into a tasty stir fry, Korean pancakes, or Pajeon, are a more decadent and cohesive appetizer, snack, or side. And there's no limit to how many or which types of vegetables you can use. This repurposing hack is a kitchen-sink, dump-it kind of recipe.

To make a leftover vegetable pancake, you'll first cut all the leftover vegetables you have on hand into uniformly sized matchstick pieces or shreds. No fancy machinery is necessary; just a good old-fashioned paring knife, box grater, or butcher knife will do. For every 5 cups of shredded vegetables, you'll make a simple batter of 2 ¾ cups of flour and three-quarters cup of water. After stirring the water and flour into a thin batter, fold in the veggies, ensuring that they're uniformly coated with the flour and water mixture. Then, spread the batter out over the bottom of a hot, oiled frying pan in a thin and even layer to fry for around 5 minutes before flipping and frying the other side for another 4 or 5 minutes.

Our recipe for repurposing leftover veggies is Korean-inspired because, unlike the Chinese scallion pancake, the batter is much simpler and easier to make. Whereas Chinese scallion pancakes are almost pastry-like with a flaky, coiled form, Korean pancakes have more of that fluffy American-pancake crumb. It's important to use cold water to make the batter so the pancakes have those beautifully crispy fried edges. If you shred the veggies with a box grater, squeeze out as much moisture as possible so the batter remains thick and cohesive. You can also add cornstarch to the mix to thicken the batter and help create the fluffiest fried texture.

While water and flour are the foundation for Korean-inspired pancakes, you can draw inspiration from many pan-Asian pancake recipes for flavoring, garnish, and dipping sauce ideas. For example, you can incorporate more Japanese flavors by adding umami-rich miso and Furikake seasoning to the batter, garnishing the pancakes with Kewpie mayo and bonito flakes. Try adding garlic, onion, and chili powder to the batter for aromatic spice. You can also spike the batter with gochujang, sriracha, or chili crunch. If you're looking for dipping sauce ideas, in our recipe for kimchi pancakes, we serve them with a dipping sauce made with sugar, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce. Take a lesson from four Korean-American chefs by topping vegetable pancakes with pickled jalapeño and scallion salad with soy ginger vinaigrette.