Bindaetteok - Savory Mung Bean Pancakes

 

I am very excited to present a special recipe today.

A while ago I was contacted by "Kimchi Chronicles", the sentational PBS series on Korean food. 

Marja Vongerichten, the wife of famous chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, shared true beauties of not only many Korean delicacies but the cultures that follows. I have been a big fan of the show and enjoyed many episodes.

It is my honor to be as their first guest blogger to present a post.

So here I am, presenting a wonderful savory mung bean pancakes called Bindatteok.

Although this dish used to be considered as a poor man's fare, it's an undeniable favorite with Koreans of every social class. 

It might have started as a humble dish for the commoners, but the flavor is as rich as the queen of England.

I adapted the Mrs. Rhee's recipe in the Kimchi Chronicles Cookbook with a few tweaks to make it my own. You will find my guest post in their blog here.

 Mung bean are tiny whole green-colored beans.  I recommend to use split mung beans; their skins have been removed revealing delicate yellow beans.  You can find them easily in any Asian grocery stores.

Ingredients:

2 cups dried split mung beans, rinsed in a few change of water

1/4 cup short grain rice, rinsed

1/3 lb minced pork

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 1/2 cups fermented kimchi, chopped

4 oz mung bean sprout, blanched and squeezed to remove moisture.

3 oz  Korean wild fern, sliced, optional

1/2 cup kimchi juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

green/red chilies for garnish, optional

Dipping sauce:

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 Tablespoon rice vinegar

Directions:

Combine rinsed mung beans and rice in a large bowl. Add cold water and soak for at least 6 hours up to 24 in the fridge. Drain and rinse them. Set aside.

This is Korean wild fern. Widely used in bibimbap and this bindaetteok.

You can omit this if you can't find.

Blanch mung bean sprouts in the boiling water  for 1 minute and squeeze gently with both hands to remove some moisture.

Chop your fermented kimchi and set aside. The sourer you kimchi is, the better it gets.

My mouth is salivating just to to say the word, "sour kimchi", Gulp!

Season minced pork with garlic, salt and pepper and mix well.

 

 Put the beans and rice in the blender and process with 1/4 cup water. Add 1/2 cup kimchi juice for the blade to turn and stir a bit in the process so that they can blend easily. Do not over puree, it should be coarsely smooth. Pour the mixture in a large mixing bowl

Mix in all the ingredients in the bowl.

Add soy sauce, salt and pepper and mix well.

Heat generous amount of oil in the skillet over medium heat and and spread 2-3 Tablespoonful of batter.

Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until it get brown crisp. Add more oil if the pan seems dry.

Place a few slices of chilies on one side as a garnish if you like.

Yum, yum, yum! 

Many Koreans eat these pancakes with soju, the Korean vodka, 

but they go just as well with a cold glass of Coke. 

Just like any savory pancakes, 

this should be eaten immediately when it’s hot. 

They get tough once they’ve cooled down. 

As always, serve with dipping sauce!

Need a printable recipe? Click HERE