Vegan mung bean pancake | Bindaetteok

Vegan mung bean pancake | Bindaetteok

Traditionally called Bindaetteok / nokdujeon, protein packed vegan mung bean pancake makes for a healthy meal or snack.

Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, with the crunch of kimchi and mung bean sprouts, these mung bean pancakes are a delight to eat! Especially when hot, right off the griddle, so good! Protein packed, they are healthy too! Also, super easy to make.

Mung bean pancake is a popular street food in Korea and is available in a choice of flavours. I have watched videos from GWANGJANG MARKET in Seoul, South Korea where the vendors freshly stone grind soaked mung beans and fry ladlefuls of the batter in a pool of hot oil.

At home, I prefer to cook bindaetteok with minimal oil, just enough to get some crunch on the sides. However, for the best experience feel free to liberally oil your pan or shallow fry the pancakes!

What is Kimchi?

Kimchi is a Korean lacto-fermented pickle. It is prepared using napa cabbage, Korean radish, ginger, garlic and Gochugaru(Korean red chilli powder) and is a very flavourful condiment.

Is Kimchi vegan?

Traditionally, kimchi contains fish sauce and shrimp paste and anchovies. However, these days, vegan kimchi is available in the stores. Be sure to check the ingredients before buying.

I do not have Kimchi! Can I still make Bindaetteok?

Yes! In fact, on the streets of Korea, vendors make Bindaetteok in different flavours and they have plain ones with only veggies and no kimchi!

In the following recipe, instead of kimchi add a mix of finely sliced veggies including onions, carrots, green onions, leeks and they taste amazing! You can also make your own kimchi!

Key Ingredients

Image of ingredients for Bindaetteok

Kimchi

Use your favourite kimchi! Sour napa cabbage kimchi is recommended. I however like kimchi that is not too sour. I make my own vegan kimchi at home with lots of ginger and garlic and it is super flavourful, here is the recipe for vegan kimchi.

Kimchi is available in Asian stores and online too. Be sure to check the ingredients to see if it’s vegan.

SUBSTITUTION – If kimchi is hard to find, you can replace kimchi with a mix of finely sliced veggies like onions, carrots, cabbage green onions and leeks. Remember to add salt to the batter if not using Kimchi!

Split yellow mung bean

Whole mung beans have a green skin. When de-husked and split they are yellow. Split mung beans that are yellow(Moong dal) is used to make these pancakes. They can easily be found in Asian and Indian grocery stores.

Rice

Rice is an optional ingredient in this recipe. I add a small portion of it for crispiness. However, you can skip using rice and add more mung beans instead.

Bean sprouts

Mung bean sprouts add to the texture and hey! extra nutrition! I have an article on how to make homemade mung bean sprouts. However, don’t skip making these amazing pancakes just because the sprouts are unavailable. SUBSTITUTION – Use extra veggies instead!

With all the substitutions given, I think non-availability of an ingredient can’t be a reason to NOT make homemade mung bean pancake! The recipe is very forgiving and measurements too need not be exactly followed! I hope you give healthy mung bean pancakes a try and let me know how you liked them!

Serving suggestions

We make mung bean pancakes often for dinner and eat it as the main dish. However they can be eaten as a snack or a part of a meal.

They taste best when served hot. They can also be reheated on a griddle.

When I make these pancakes with Kimchi added, I don’t find the need for any dipping sauce as the kimchi is already super flavourful.

Love Korean food? Check out my Gochujang fried rice recipe!

Mung bean pancake

Vegan mung bean pancake with kimchi

Shwetha
Crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, protein rich, healthy pancakes with kimchi and bean sprouts.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Soak time 4 hours
Course Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine asian, Korean
Servings 10 small pancakes

Equipment

  • Blender

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup split yellow mung bean moong dal
  • ¼ cup rice optional, use more moong instead.
  • 1 inch ginger
  • 1 cup kimchi or use mix of veggies instead, check notes below
  • 1 cup mung bean sprouts
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 4 stalks green/spring onion
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds optional
  • 1 tsp sesame oil optional
  • oil As needed for pan frying
  • ½ cup water

Dipping sauce

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar or to taste
  • 1 tsp water
  • ¼ tsp toasted sesame seeds optional
  • ¼ tsp red chili flakes
  • onions a few pieces

Instructions
 

Soaking rice and split yellow mung beans

  • Wash rice and split yellow mung beans.
  • Soak them in plenty of water for atleast 4-5 hours or overnight.

Prepare ingredients

  • Blanch bean sprouts for 2 minutes in boiling water. Remove and rinse with cold water. Drain and keep aside.
  • Chop kimchi roughly into smaller pieces. If not using kimchi, finely slice veggies like onions, leeks, cabbage, carrots.
  • Chop white part of green onions finely. Chop the green part two inches long.
  • Grate/crush garlic.

Make the batter

  • Blend mung bean, rice and ginger with ½ cup water into a slightly coarse thick batter. Remove into a bowl.
  • Add chopped kimchi, blanched bean sprouts, grated garlic, white portion of green onions, sesame seeds, sesame oil into the mung bean batter and mix everything together.
    Note: Salt may need to be added depending on how salty the Kimchi is. I generally need no extra salt.
    Add minx-ins into the batter for bindaetteok
  • Mix in a portion of the chopped green onions(the green part) into the batter. Reserve some pieces to be placed on the pancake when cooking.

Make dipping sauce

  • Mix together all the ingredients listed under dipping sauce.

Make pancakes

  • Heat a cast iron/nonstick pan/griddle over medium heat.
  • Spread anywhere from 1/2 tsp to 2 tbsp oil depending on your liking. More oil makes the outer crust crispy.
  • Pour a ladleful of the mung bean mixture and slightly flatten it into a round shape. If using a 10 inch pan, fry 2-3 small pancakes at a time.
  • Place 1-2 pieces of green onion on the top.
    How to spread mung bean pancake batter on the pan
  • Drizzle oil around the sides if needed.
  • After 2 minutes or when the bottom is golden brown, flip the pancake over and press. Drizzle more oil on the sides if needed.
  • Remove from heat when both sides look golden and serve hot with the dipping sauce.

Video

Notes

  • If the pan is too hot, the crust may burn before the insides cook properly. Maintain a medium heat.
  • Adjust oil to suit your needs. Use oil liberally/shallow fry if you like the outer crust to be very crispy. I prefer using lesser oil.
  • Mung bean pancakes can be made without Kimchi. Substitutions for ingredients are given below.
SUBSTITUTIONS
  • Rice – Use extra mung beans instead.
  • Kimchi – Use thinly sliced mix of veggies like onions, leeks, carrots, green cabbage instead. Remember to season with salt if not using Kimchi. 
  • Bean sprouts – Use extra veggies instead. Learn how to make homemade bean sprouts in this link.
 
Keyword bindaetteok, mung bean pancake, nokdujeon

Did you try this recipe?

Do leave a star rating and comment below to let me know how you liked it! I would love to see the photos too! Tag me on social media!

Thank you so much for stopping by! It really means a lot to me!



6 thoughts on “Vegan mung bean pancake | Bindaetteok”

  • 5 stars
    Great recipe. I modified because me Italian husband does not like sour foods like kraut and kimchi. I substituted for shredded zucchini, carrots and onions. It was great. Thank you for teaching me about mung beans.

    • Am so glad you liked it! Recently, when I made it without Kimchi, I added in a spoonful of gochujang paste in along with the veggies but I agree that it tastes great with only a mix of veggies! I love thinly sliced onions and cabbage in it! Thank you so much for trying it and for leaving a feedback! I appreciate it 🙂

  • 5 stars
    Very good! I did make the batter a bit too thick for the first ones, but easy to thin out with a bit more water for the rest of the batch.
    Will definitely be making again!

    • Yay! Am so glad you liked them! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a feedback, appreciate it!

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