These types of pancakes are made by dredging an ingredient first in flour, then in whisked eggs, and finally, pan frying them. These pancakes can be comprised of a single ingredient thinly sliced or an ingredient stuffed with a filling and then coated and fried.
What we want to achieve
When making flour and egg pancakes, here are some things we want to do or achieve to make a delicious pancake.
- You want to get an even and uniform coating on the ingredient.
- You need to preseason the ingredient before dredging it in the flour and egg.
- When your pancake is cooked, it should have an even slightly golden coating. The color of the ingredient inside should still be visible.
- The ingredient you use for your pancake needs to be uniform in thickness, or one side will be finished cooking when the other is over or undercooked.
- When cooking the pancake, the coating should not be puffed up, it should be flat and even. This is achieved by using the right amount of oil and the proper level of heat.
- You can add a decoration to the pancake to make it even more appetizing and special.
How to Prep and Season your ingredients
Even Uniform Slices
Both vegetables and proteins can be used when making these types of pancakes. You need to slice your ingredients into uniform slices.
Vegetables should be 1/2 -3/4 cm thick. Keeping the skin on certain vegetables adds a nice color to the final product and makes it more appetizing looking.
Proteins such as fish, beef, or pork should be sliced as thin as possible. Slice your protein to 1/4 cm. thick. It is easier to slice protein thinly when it is slightly frozen. After slicing the meat, you can further defrost the ingredient and then finish the rest of the prep before cooking it. Once the meat is thinly sliced, it will thaw quickly.
Season and Let Sit
Once you have your even and uniform slices, it is time to season your ingredients.
- Add a light layer of salt onto both sides of the ingredient. This improves the texture, enhances the natural flavor, and seasons the ingredient. Do not let it sit for too long, or it can negatively affect the texture of your ingredient. Let the ingredients sit with the salt for 10-15 minutes max.
Dab Off Excess Moisture
Salt will naturally draw out some moisture from the meat and vegetables. After 10-15 minutes, remove the excess salt and moisture from the surface of the ingredients by dabbing the surface with a paper towel. Do not wash the ingredients in running water to remove the salt; just dab it with a paper towel.
If you do not dab off the excess moisture from the surface of the ingredient, once you dredge your ingredient in flour, the flour will clump together or form a paste. This will make the coating on your ingredient uneven and mushy once cooked.
Dredging and Dipping
Now that your ingredients are sliced and seasoned, it is time to dredge them in flour and dip them into an egg mixture.
Before we get into all that, let’s first talk about why the ingredients are dredged in flour before being dipped into the egg mixture. Does the order matter? Well, the seasoned ingredient must be dredged in flour and then dipped into the egg because by evenly dredging the ingredient in flour, the egg can then cling evenly to the ingredient. So, flour first, then whisked egg.
After letting the ingredient sit with salt and then dabbing off the moisture, it is time to dredge in flour. Place the ingredient in the flour and coat both sides, then tap off the excess flour from the ingredient. You want to have a smooth coating and surface without any bald patches or clumps. If you have clumps of flour, then the egg won’t stick well to the ingredient.
Now dip the dredged ingredient into the egg mixture. The egg mixture is just made from whisked plain eggs. The egg mixture should be a uniform golden color without any egg white chunks.
I know whisking eggs completely can be a pain in the butt, but it will result in a more appetizing-looking pancake once it’s fried.
After dipping and coating the ingredient fully, let the excess egg mixture run off the pancake, and then place the pancake immediately into your preheated pan.
You need to have your pan ready and heated with oil before you start this process because you don’t want to place your pancakes down on a plate or something after you dip them in the flour and egg because the coating can get ruined.
Always be completely prepared. First, you dredge your ingredient, then dip them in egg, and then place them directly in the heated and oiled frying pan.
Dry Ingredients for Dredging
Remember, just plain eggs are used as the egg mixture. Some people add water to the egg mixture, but I found that just plain eggs work best.
The dry ingredients that you can use to dredge include panko/tempura powder (튀김가루), pancake powder (부침가루), or flour. You can use any of these alone for the dredge.
You can also make a powder mix for the dredge consisting of a mixture of starch and white/wheat flour in a 2:3 ratio.
How to Successfully fry your Egg & Flour Pancake
You need to have the pan ready before you prep the ingredients when making flour and egg pancakes because after prepping, you place the pancake directly into the pan.
Cookware
You must use a non-stick frying pan and spatula to fry your pancakes. Use a spatula if you are a beginner. You can use chopsticks to flip as well if you are more comfortable with that. Try not to scrape any metal spatula or chopsticks on your non-stick pan, or it can mess it up.
Temperature
When frying these kinds of pancakes, you should use lower heat. You want to aim for a medium-low temperature. If the heat is too high, the egg will puff up and look unappetizing, and ingredients such as beef or fish will burn on the outside or turn too dark before being completely cooked on the inside.
You also need to ensure the heat is not too low. Otherwise, the pancake can get soggy. For egg and flour pancakes, you want the outside to be a light golden color, not a deep golden brown; the proper temperature helps us achieve this.
Amount of oil
Adding the right amount of oil and maintaining the proper temperature is important to make delicious pancakes and prevent them from sticking to the pan as they are cooked.
If you have too much oil, it can make the batter puff up and not be flat like we want! I use about 1 tsp (5 ml) of oil in my pan for egg and flour pancakes. You need to heat the oil in the pan completely before adding the pancake to the pan, or the oil will absorb into the pancake giving it an oily unappetizing flavor.
When to Flip
If you want to see whether the bottom of the pancake is cooked well before flipping, then give the pan a shake. If the pancake moves, then it is time to flip it.
When making these pancakes, you will flip them a few times in the pan to evenly cook them. Since the temperature is lower, they should be cooked fully before turning too golden. These pancakes do not take too much time to cook. Each side of the pancake should be cooked for about 1 min to 1 min 30 seconds. Delicate ingredients like Korean squash (애호박) should not be overcooked to the point that it is mushy and drooping when picked up.
Once your pancakes are done cooking, take them off the heat. Do not stack or overlap your pancakes after cooking them, or the steam from the stacked pancakes will cause the coating to get soggy and fall off. Place the cooked pancakes in an even layer on a plate after cooking instead of stacking them immediately. After they have cooled a little, you can stack your pancakes.
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