Mini vegetable pancakes (Yachaejeon)
Eight small savoury pancakes made with everyday vegetables, flour and water. No egg, chilli or special pancake mix; thin portions cook quickly and are easy to cut for a family snack.
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✦ AI-generated cooking illustrations. Follow the written quantities and instructions.
Ingredients
4 servings
- Essential
Needed for this batter or coating to hold together. Keep the listed wheat flour; nut flour or starch is not a direct same-amount swap.
- Essential
Keep the listed cooking liquid; it controls hydration and sauce consistency. Use drinking water.
- Substitute available
Use the same weight of finely sliced cabbage. Cook until soft; the cabbage gives a different texture.
- Substitute available
Replace with the same weight of sweet bell pepper, cut equally small. Colour and sweetness change; cook until tender.
- Optional
May be omitted; the dish will be less sweet and aromatic. Skip the onion-preparation step.
- Substitute available
Use the same volume of canola, sunflower or rice-bran oil. Choose an unflavoured oil; toasted sesame oil changes the taste.
- Optional
May be omitted; the result will taste less seasoned. Leave the other ingredient quantities unchanged.
1 tbsp = 15 ml · 1 tsp = 5 ml. Use level measuring spoons. Quantities below make 4 servings.
Tap each ingredient as you prepare it. Check product labels for egg, soy, sesame, wheat, fish or shellfish where relevant.
Step-by-step cooking
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Step 1
Wash the vegetables and peel the carrot and onion. Coarsely grate 80 g zucchini and 60 g carrot, then cut the shreds shorter, about 1–2 cm. Slice 40 g onion very thinly. Pat away surface water so the batter does not become watery.
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Step 2
In a bowl, whisk 100 g plain flour, 140 ml water and 1 g salt just until smooth. The batter should flow slowly from the whisk, rather than form a dough. Do not taste uncooked flour batter.
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Step 3
Fold all the vegetables into the batter until each shred is lightly coated. Divide the mixture mentally into eight portions. Keep the pancakes thin: about 7 cm across and no more than 5 mm thick helps the center cook evenly.
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Step 4
Heat half the 15 ml oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spoon in four separate portions, leaving gaps, and spread each thinly. Cook for about 3 minutes without moving them until the bottom is light golden and the edges look set.
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Step 5
Turn each pancake carefully with a spatula. Cook the second side for 2–3 minutes. Check the center of one: vegetables should be soft and there should be no wet flour paste. Reduce the heat and cook a little longer if the outside browns before the middle is cooked.
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Step 6
Transfer to a plate, add the remaining oil and cook the other four pancakes the same way. Let them cool for 3–5 minutes. Cut into soft short strips or small pieces suited to a child's chewing ability; serve plain, without a salty dipping sauce.
Finished dish
Makes eight pancakes, two per snack serving. Contains wheat; this version has no egg or milk. An adult handles the grater, knife and pan; children can mix the cooled ingredients. Use courgette/zucchini, not watery cucumber. For younger children, keep the texture soft and trim any hard crisp edges. This is a family recipe, not an infant-feeding guide. Cool leftovers promptly, refrigerate and use within 24 hours; reheat thoroughly in a pan and cool before serving.
This complete home version was written for this site using the public recipe as a reference. Open the original for another method.
Maangchi — Yachaejeon; mild mini-pancake home adaptation ↗