My pictorial recipe focuses on the dipping sauce I made to serve with Korean pancakes and how I used the leftover sauce to braised silken tofu for my baby who loves it. The dipping sauce is not the traditional Korean sauce used for seafood pancakes. It was just me playing with my ingredients and got lucky that it turned out delicious. Hopefully my kids will like to eat the Korean seafood pancakes someday.
- Cooking and prepping time for the sauce and braised tofu: 30 minutes
- Serving: 4-8
Ingredients:
For the dipping sauce –
- 1 Tbsp Viet Huong fish sauce
- 3 Tbsp European Maggi
- 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2+ Tbsp Gochujang hot pepper paste
- 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 pieces of pure palm sugar
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 1 Tbsp fried shallots
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
For the braised silken tofu –
- 1 block Silken Tofu – I prefer the brand shown in picture
- 2/3 cup Korean pancake dipping sauce
- 1/2 cup water minus 2 Tbsp
- 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch + 2 Tbsp water
- 2 Tbsp Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
For two big Korean seafood pancakes:
- 2 cup Korean pancake mix + 2 cup water
- 2/3 cup shrimp cut in thirds + squid
- 1 cup chopped choy sum (cai ngot)
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 1 cup mixed thinly sliced onion and red and green bell peppers
Direction:
1. To make the dipping sauce: Mix the ingredients besides the fried shallots, scallion, and minced garlic in a bowl. In a small sauce pan, heat up oil on high heat and sizzle the minced garlic. Pour in the sauce mixture. Simmer on medium heat for about 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce thickens to your preference. Turn off heat and add the chopped scallions, fried shallots. Serve the sauce hot or at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.
2. To make the braised silken tofu:
Cube the silken tofu about one-inch thick. Mix the cornstarch with water in a cup. In a skillet, gently pour in the dipping sauce, water, cornstarch mixture, and silken tofu. Start out with high heat until the sauce boils and then lower the heat and simmer for about five minutes until the sauce thickens up and coats the tofu well. Stir the sauce mixture before you add the silken tofu in. Try not to stir after the tofu is in the sauce since the silken tofu breaks easily.
3. How I made the Korean seafood pancakes
Follow instructions on the back of the bag to make the batter. Use whatever seafood ingredients you like and vegetables. Common vegetables used to make Korean pancakes include red green bell peppers, yellow or red onion, finely chopped scallion. For me, I like to include a bit of chopped choy sum because it’s one of my kids’ favorite leafy vegetables. I used squid and shrimp to make these Korean seafood pancakes. Other options include oysters, mussels, and octopus.
Once you mix your batter with the seafood and vegetables. Heat up a pan (small or big depends on your size preference). I used a larger an but I think I will use a smaller pan to make more servings next time. Heat up pan on high heat with a bit of oil. Ladle in the pancake batter mix and pan-fry each side for about two minutes or until crisp.
