Korean-style pumpkin Pancakes

Turn ordinary pumpkin into unfussy and direct Korean style pumpkin pancakes. This savory pancake is a savory snack option, and extremely short to prepare.

Pumpkin is, perhaps, the trademark vegetable of Autumn and these Korean pumpkin pancakes (hobak buchimgae, 호박 부침개) are the steady snack idea to use up your fresh pumpkin.

We went to a grocery store to buy zucchinis but came home with a pumpkin instead. When we saw a few pumpkins displayed on the shelf, we felt bad that we didn’t eat enough pumpkin last fall.

We bet we are the only weird cook who felt bad about not eating enough pumpkin during fall/winter season in the beginning of March. Or maybe we just wanted to hold on to the past because we are not ready for the changes that are coming ahead (=a sign of aging).

Anyway, we gave some thought to what we could to do with our pumpkin and decided to make 늙은 호박 부침개 (neulgun hobak buchimgae), which translates to “the aged pumpkin pancakes”.

Yes, an aged pumpkin works a keeper because it holds a fully developed flavor and texture. When a Korean pumpkin gets older(?) the skin develops a white powdery surface on top of its orange color.

For this recipe, we used an Australian pumpkin (similar to Kabocha pumpkin) that was available in the store. Any pumpkin should work fine. See our Korean pumpkin porridge for another great use of this orange pumpkin.

How the dish comes together

Behold! Here is a piece of pumpkin that is still bold and beautiful! Any pumpkin works fine with this recipe.

Remove seeds, peel the skin of pumpkin. Slice thinly, about 1/8″, then cut into match sticks. You can go thicker, no big deal. We could use our food processor but we hate washing the 5 compartments of it afterward. Besides, slicing pumpkin is quite fun to do.

Now, put them in a bowl, sprinkle 2 Tbsp of sugar (more if you desire sweeter) and 1/2 tsp of kosher salt. Mix well and let it sit.

After 10-15 minutes you will see some moisture coming out of pumpkin. DO NOT drain! You NEED that liquid. In fact it is the only liquid you need for this recipe.

Add 1/2-2/3 cup of flour and mix well. (Adjust the amount of flour depending on the moisture in the pumpkin.)

Let it sit for 5 minutes. Your pumpkin batter is ready to cook.

Heat oil in a skillet over med-low. Spread out the pumpkin batter to a thin layer. Any size you desire.

If you have a piece of green chili, adorn with it just for fun. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Flip and press gently with a spatula to help sear the other side. Cook 2 more minutes. You will feel that pumpkin is getting soft.

Serve hot. The dipping sauce is optional; the pancakes are good either way. Slightly sweet yet fully loaded with natural pumpkin flavor, this recipe makes comforting pancakes to savor.

A few days ago, an unfortunate event happened to us. We were driving our car and got stuck in a traffic on the way to pick up our son from his after school activity. We were attacked by a motorcyclist robber.

He banged passenger side window of our car to snatch our purse. Luckily we left our purse on the floor and he couldn’t reach the purse. (He would have to have an elastic arm to reach a purse placed on the floor of an SUV from his scooter type motor bike. We don’t know what he was thinking!)

In the end, he gave up and drove off. We couldn’t chase him down due to being caught in the traffic. The whole thing happened within 3 seconds! Lightening fast! We were left stunned, speechless, and helpless.

Fortunately we were unharmed and our purse was safe, but the passenger side window was broken into a million pieces of glass covering the seat. We had heard about this type of “smash and grab” robbery many times from other people, and we finally got our own story to tell.

However, we are thankful that we were safe. It could have been worse. Because we had our camera in our purse, so if the purse was stolen, we wouldn’t be able to post any recipes in our blog for who knows how long.

Well, isn’t life full of surprises? Stay safe, guys!

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 10 minutes
• Total: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb pumpkin, seeded and peeled
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup flour
• 2-3 tbsp for frying
• 1 green chili, sliced, optional

For dipping sauce:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 green chili, seeded and minced
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Slice pumpkin thinly and cut into 1/8-inch thick matchsticks.
2. Put pumpkin slices in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar and salt; toss together. Let the pumpkin sit for 15 minutes to extract moisture. Do not drain.
3. Add flour and mix well. Adjust the amount of flour depends on the amount of liquid extracted from pumpkin. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over med-low heat. Spread 2-3 tablespoonful of pumpkin batter to thin layer (Adjust the size of pancakes as you desire). Place chili slices on top, if using.
5. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until you get the slight golden crust on both sides and the pumpkin gets soft. Press gently with a spatula to sear the surface as you flip to the other side. Drizzle more oil when needed.
6. Serve hot with dipping sauce. The pancakes is good either way, with or without the dipping sauce.