Lettuce Pancakes
상추전
Rooted in Buddhism, Korean Temple Food is all plant-based, distinguished by its focus on health, ecology, seasonality and zero waste. During the summer in Korea, lettuce is one of the seasonal vegetables in the temple. This crispy pancake will be a good start to your journey to Korean savoury pancakes.
Ingredients
- 10 lettuce leaves
- 100ml flour
- 200ml water
- 1 potato (medium size)
- Cooking oil
For the seasoning (chogochujang):
- 2 Tbsp gochujang (fermented chilli paste)
- 2 Tbsp vinegar
- ¼ apple
- 1 Tbsp jocheong (grain syrup)
- 2 Tbsp roasted and ground sesame seeds
Method
- Wash and drain the lettuce leaves; set aside.
- Add the flour to the water. Stir until smooth.
- Grate the potato. Add to the mixture from step 2 to make a batter.
- Coat the lettuce leaves with the batter. Heat the pan and coat it with cooking oil. Pan-fry the lettuce leaves.
- Grate the apple. Make the chogochujang by combining the apple with the seasoning ingredients. Serve it as a dipping sauce for the pancakes.
Recipe Source: Venerable Beop Song
Venerable Beop Song is a Korean Buddhist nun, renowned chef, and cookbook author, who resides in Yeongseonsa temple in Daejeon City. She became a Buddhist nun in 1996 under the tutelage of Venerable Seongkwan. Starting in 2021, she has been delivering demonstrations of Korean Temple Food to students as part of the Diploma in Plant-Based Culinary Arts in Le Cordon Bleu. Her latest publication is a cookbook Beop Song’s Korean Temple Food with Root Vegetables (2022).
Illustration source: @ thibaudherem
