Korean Radish Pancakes (Mujeon)
Korean radish pancakes are easy and delicious. Enjoy the mellow and sweet taste of Korean radish with this recipe, but you can substitute with daikon radish, if you can’t find it. Serve the radish pancakes with soy lemon dipping sauce.
A forgotten Korean radish left in the refrigerator turned into these delicious Korean radish pancakes (Mujeon, 무전). If you haven’t tasted Korean radish, you are missing out on a delicious vegetable.
I found a piece of Korean radish in the back of the vegetables tray in my refrigerator. Interestingly, I didn’t even remember how long it had been sitting there. Don’t you love discovering things you didn’t expect when you clean the refrigerator?
It still looked decent although it didn’t have all its fresh glory. I thought of making Korean Mackerel and Radish Stew with this, but soon realized that I didn’t have any mackerel, not even a can. So that left me thinking of what I could do with this half-century old Korean radish.
For me, if I can’t think of any “Wow!” idea when it comes to cooking with vegetables, I usually make simple pancakes with them. This radish pancake is one of the delicious Korean pancakes I like.
Can’t find the Korean radish? Use Daikon radish instead.
How To Make Korean Radish Pancakes
Peel the radish first and slice it very thinly into disks. Then cut into thin matchsticks. About 1/8-inch would be the most ideal. For me slicing is like a healing moment. I love it.
Sprinkle a little salt and let them sit for 10 minutes.
The radish will look a little lifeless. Add some chopped green onion, a little corn starch and flour.
Add some water and crack an egg into the mixture until the better has a wet but not runny consistency.
Sometimes I like to add a few sliced jalapeño pieces into the batter. I enjoy a spicy kick.
Spread the batter as thin as you can and sprinkle a little love – the toasted sesame seeds! Cook 2-3 minutes.
Flip it over, and voila! The radish pancake is looking pretty. Cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes and it looks perfect to enter my gastronomic system.
Dip your pancakes in a soy-lemon dipping sauce. I made about 6 pancakes and I ate all of them without thinking twice. Sharing was at not at the front of my mind at the moment.
If you have not tried Korean radish, this is a great recipe to start with. It’s simple and delicious. Hope you get to try this savory pancakes with Korean radish soon.
Korean Radish Pancakes (Mujeon)
Ingredients
- 1 small (about 1 lb, 450g) Korean radish (or daikon radish), peeled
- 1 green onion , finely chopped
- 1 jalopeño, seeded and sliced, optional
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 egg
- 3-4 tbsp water
- dash white pepper
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- oil for frying
For soy lemon dipping sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Slice the radish into 1/8-inch disks, then slice into thin sticks, about 1/8-inch.
- Place radish sticks in a mixing bowl, add salt, and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Add green onion, jalopeño, flour, cornstarch, egg, and 3 tablespoon water. Mix well. If the batter seems to dry add more water. Adjust the amount of flour and water to your desired batter texture.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoon of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat, add 1/4 cup of radish batter onto the skillet and spread thinly. Sprinkle a little bit of toasted sesame seeds on top. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the bottom get golden brown. Flip and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
- To make soy lemon dipping sauce, mix soy sauce and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl. Serve the pancakes warm with soy sauce lemon juice dipping sauce.
Hello. About how big is a small radish? I.e. grams or ounces.
I have a bunch of different types in very widely different sizes, but none of call “small.”
It would be about 1 lb (450g) needed for this radish pancake recipe. Thanks for contacting me with the measurement. I updated the recipe card.
Thanks for the inspiration! I was just trying to figure out what to do with two bags of red radishes in the bottom of my produce drawer. Now I think I’ll try shredding them and making them into pancakes too. Yum!
Great! Red radish would work, too. Hope you like it. Thanks!
You have a really nice website!
Amazing pancake, This is Korea Food? The whole website is an artwork. I am a food blogger, i am thinking about transfer Self host to Blogger, Could you give me some advices about how to blogging?
best regards
This is such a brilliant idea! Thanks, Holly! Although I assuage my guilty feelings about these forgotten veggies in the fridge by recycling them in my compost heap, I would feel less guilty about throwing still edible ingredients by using them creatively first, as you have done. Bravo!
I’m always surprised when I clean the refrigerator. Sometimes pleasantly, more often unpleasantly. 😉 This looks wonderful — terrific way to use radishes. Thanks.