bin dae dduk (Korean mung bean pancakes)

Bin dae dduk (빈대떡) or nok doo jeon (녹두전) are traditional Korean pancakes made from ground mung beans (녹두).  I usually put kimchi (김치) and pork in mine.  I leaned how to make bin dae dduk by watching my mom.  It's always been one of my favorites and is a comfort food for me.  My mom still makes bin dae dduk for me every now and then.  This time, I made some for her!  I've been making it for years, but this is the first time I actually tried to measure out the ingredients.

Ingredients (makes about 24 4" pancakes)
2 c. dried and peeled mung beans
1/3 c. sweet rice (optional)
2 c. kimchi, roughly chopped
5 oz. pork loin
2 tsp soy sauce
2 green onion stalks, sliced thin
2 red jalapenos, seeded and cut in threads
5/3 c. water
oil for frying (I used canola)

Directions
1. Place the mung beans and sweet rice in a large bowl and add about 6 cups of water. Soak for at least 4 hours. You may soak them overnight if you wish.  Why is the sweet rice optional?  This is the first time I ever tried adding it.  In theory, the sweet rice should help enhance the chewiness and crispiness.  In practice, I didn't actually notice a difference.  Maybe I didn't add enough, but I didn't want to add too much for fear of changing the flavor profile.

NOTE: Mung beans (녹두) are also called "green beans" in Asia because of their green skins.  If you buy mung beans that have not had their skins removed, you will have to remove them, which is a pain in the butt.

2. Slice the pork loin into thin slices or thin strips.  I cut mine into pieces roughly 1 1/2" x 1" x 1/8" or so.  Place in a bowl and splash on the soy sauce.  Mix it around to lightly coat the pieces and set aside.  This particular piece of pork loin had two different muscles, hence the two different shades of pink.

3. Prep the veggies.  You can squeeze excess moisture from the kimchi if you so desire.  I didn't because that kimchi juice has flavor.

4. Drain the mung beans and rice, then puree into a batter with the 5/3 c. water.  You can use a food processor or a blender/Vitamix for this step.  I used my Cuisinart stick blender.

Why do you have to drain the water, only to add more water back?  You don't.  I just never measured how much liquid was needed before.  My soaked mung beans and sweet rice came to about 5 cups drained, and I added back 1/3 c. liquid per 1 c. of beans and rice, hence the 5/3 c.  In case you are interested, I started with 6 cups of water.  The mung beans and rice soaked up about 8/3 c. of this.  I used 5/3 c. of the remaining liquid for the pureeing step, leaving 5/3 c. of liquid left over.  Anyway, the batter should be fairly smooth and fairly thick, and look something like this:

5.  Add the meat and veggies to the batter and mix to combine.

NOTE: The batter doesn't stay homogenized, so give it a stir every so often or when you see water collecting on the top surface.  If you batter is too watery, then scoop off some of the excess water.  Or you can add a bit of flour or cornstarch.

5. Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat and drop about 1/3 c. of batter to make a 4" pancake.  Fry as you would a pancake, cooking a minute or two per side, until golden brown.

NOTE: For a little fancy touch, don't add the jalapeno threads into the batter.  Instead, arrange them on top of each pancake before flipping.  For example, you could make a little "X" with 2 threads.

NOTE: These came out a little darker than normal, I think because I fried them in a cast iron pan.  I usually use a Teflon coated pan and the final color is a bit lighter.

6. Serve as is or with a dipping sauce.  You may freeze any leftovers.

Optional dipping sauce

2 parts soy sauce

1 part rice vinegar

dash of chili flakes

You can vary this for your taste.  Honestly, I never measure when I make a dipping sauce.  I just eyeball it.  You can also add one or more of the following: sugar, sesame seeds, chopped green onion, and even chopped garlic.