Everyone knows that I’m a noodle/rice over potatoes girl any day of the week, but I do make an exception for a crisp and crunchy potato pancake situation. This Korean Potato Pancake is latkes’ cool older cousin; all the savory and crispy potato flavor you love coupled with the much easier (and far more fun) communal aspect of making one large pancake to share. I serve it with a creamy, gently spiced dipping sauce that takes just seconds to make. Best of all the ingredient list is short and uses common pantry staples.

I live in Miami and have many Jewish friends…and I cook. So who do you think gets asked to help out come holiday season? For years, my friend Kira and I would prep her Hannukah dinners at one of our restaurants. She would come in loaded like a pack mule and we would end the day with piles of ready made food, all set for her special night.

The highlight of those meals were her latkes, mini potato and onion patties/cakes, which she liked to make extra crispy and “spidery” to get the most crisp edges. The combination of potato and onion figure prominently in many different cuisines because it’s cheap, always available, and above all delicious: that comforting, familiar flavor is hard to beat. Add in my honey curry dipping sauce and it’s like a latke/samosa baby. So late night snack, appetizer, or side- my Korean Potato Pancake is ready to satisfy all of your carb desires, so let’s get into it.

I start making my Korean Potato Pancake by whipping up the dipping sauce. A few pantry ingredients later and I have a sauce that combines the creaminess of mayo with the earthy spice of curry powder and just a touch of sweetness from some honey. The yield on this sauce is just enough for 1 pancake. If you’re a sauce lover, you can double up as any leftovers would be great paired with my Japanese Fried Chicken.

Once I’ve stirred everything together I put it aside and start grating the potato and onion. I use a russet for this, and one big potato should be enough.

I mix it with a fork until everything is thoroughly combined:

Now it’s time to fry this baby up! I use a neutral oil like avocado so it doesn’t mask the potato goodness. I heat the pan for several minutes. Get the pan good and hot. This is important because the potato mixture is quite wet and you need to get that pan as hot as possible so the mixture doesn’t glue itself to the pan when you pour it in. You can also use a non-stick pan, but I like to live dangerously. We use a generous amount of oil which helps to crisp up the potatoes and gives it flavor.

Once you scrape out the potato mixture into the pan, use a fork to help it spread out evenly and then don’t touch it. It needs time alone to build a crust and brown. Resist the urge to touch and look. Once it’s cooked for 3 minutes, use a thin spatula and scrape along the edges to loosen the pancake and then flip it over.

Once the second side has cooked, I like to cover it with a lid for several minutes. Since the potatoes started raw, you need to make sure that the inside of the pancake is soft and fluffy… not crunchy and undercooked. Once the pancake is cooked, I flip and brown each side for a couple more minutes to get a beautifully crisp pancake.

Slide the Korean Potato Pancake onto a serving platter and dig in! You can cut it into wedges like a pizza and serve, or you could enjoy it communally like Koreans do. What could be better than bonding over  a big, crunchy and crispy potato pancake?!

We like to enjoy this as a snack on its own, but it would also be most welcome as part of a brunch along with my Tamagoyaki Frittata, Strawberry Lychee Lemonade, and Mango Sago.

I hope you love this Korean Potato Pancake. Whip it up this weekend and let me know! Leave a comment and tag us in your pics @funkyasiankitchen, we love hearing from you.

Korean Potato Pancake

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• Author: Funky Asian Kitchen
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 12 minutes
• Total Time: 22 minutes
• Yield: serves 2
• Category: snacks
• Cuisine: korean

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Ingredients

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Dipping Sauce:

• ½ teaspoon mild curry powder
• 3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon honey
• ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
• A couple dashes of salt and pepper to taste

For the potato pancake:

• 1 large russet potato (about 10 ounces)
• ¼ medium yellow onion
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• ¼ cup neutral oil

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Instructions

1. Make the dipping sauce: combine the curry powder, mayonnaise, honey, and garlic powder. Stir with a fork until smooth. Taste and adjust with a little salt and pepper as needed. Set aside.
   
2. Peel the potato and grate it over a bowl. (Use a coarse grater or the largest hole on a box grater. Do not use an asian grater as it will turn the potato into a wet mush)
3. Next grate the onion, adding it to the potato. Add the salt, ground pepper, and potato starch. Use a fork and mix to combine.
4. Heat a heavy 10 inch skillet over medium heat for several minutes (be patient and get it good and hot). Add half of the oil to the skillet and swirl to coat the pan.
5. Scrape the potato mixture into the pan, using the fork to spread the mixture evenly into the pan.
6. Cook the potato pancake for 3 minutes and then use a thin, stiff spatula to loosen the edges of the pancake. Flip the pancake and pour the remaining oil around the perimeter of the pancake. Cook for another 3 minutes.
7. Cover the pan with a tight lid and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Take off the lid.
8. Flip the pancake again and cook for another 2 minutes. And flip one last time to crisp the other side for another minute.
9. Either plate the pancake for communal sharing or ransfer to a cutting board and cut the pancake like a pizza into 8 slices before serving.
10. Serve Korean Potato Pancake immediately with the dipping sauce on the side.

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Keywords: korean, savory pancake, potato pancake, crispy, gamjajeon, gamja-jeon

It’s hard to believe, but apparently we’re already in back to school mode. And that means easy dinners that will bring everyone to the table. These Teriyaki Meatballs really fit the bill. A juicy and tender mixture of pork and beef with a yummy teriyaki glaze-what’s not to love? Getting back into the early morning groove can be a struggle, but dinner doesn’t have to be…

First Make the Sauce for Teriyaki Meatballs

This is a super simple sauce, using dependable pantry staples like soy sauce, mirin, and sake. I like my teriyaki sauces to have a balance of sweet and savory. It’s not super sweet. You can adjust the sweetness later on if you find it not sweet enough. Just measure out the ingredients into a cup or bowl and mix well. Done, easy peasy. Then set it aside by the stove while you get the meatballs going.

Make the Teriyaki Meatballs

This is a very straightforward meatball recipe. Just mix everything in a bowl, shape, and cook. No need to over complicate things while we’re getting our bearings in a post summer vacation world. I like to use a combination of pork (for softness) and beef (for flavor), but you could use ground turkey or chicken too.

I use an ice cream scoop to portion out the meatballs but it’s not critical. Once you have them portioned, I like to roll them gently to smooth out the surface. Once the meatballs are shaped, it’s time to cook them. I like to use a nonstick skillet for these but a well seasoned cast iron would work well too.

The “secret” to these luscious meatballs is to sear them for a couple of minutes on the outside and then gently braise them in the sauce to finish cooking them. Searing first gives a nice color and crust to your meatballs. The braise helps to improve juiciness and tenderness, but it also gives the meatballs time to absorb some of the sauce, which packs in more flavor.

Garnish with sesame seeds and minced scallions and the Teriyaki Meatballs are ready to be devoured! We love them over some steamed rice to soak up the delicious sauce, with maybe a simple green vegetable like this broccoli dish to round it out. These would be excellent alongside Spicy Garlic Noodles too.

Make these this week and let me know what you think. Comment on the recipe below and tag us in your pics @funkyasiankitchen; we love hearing from you!

Teriyaki Meatballs

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• Author: Funky Asian Kitchen
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: serves 4
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: Japanese

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Ingredients

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Sauce:

• 1 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• ¼ cup mirin
• 1 Tablespoons sake
• 2 cloves garlic smashed
• 1 piece of ginger (the size of a quarter) peeled and smashed

Meatballs:

• ½ pound ground beef
• ½ pound ground pork
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 scallions, chopped fine
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tablespoon peeled and minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper 
• 1 Tablespoon neutral oil 

Garnish:

• Minced scallions
• Toasted sesame seeds

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Instructions

1. Combine the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, garlic, and ginger in a cup. Stir to dissolve sugar and set aside. 
2. Combine the ground pork, ground beef, egg, panko, scallions, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, salt and white pepper in a medium bowl. Mix well.
3. Form into 1 ½ Tablespoon meatballs (I used a scoop and yielded 13) and place them onto a plate or baking sheet.
4. Heat a large 12” skillet over medium high heat for several minutes.
5. Add the oil and swirl to coat the skillet. Add the meatballs to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes until browned. Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes to brown the other side. 
6. Add the sauce to the skillet. Cover the pan with a lid and lower heat to medium low. Cook for 7-9 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through (you can cut into one to check if you’re unsure).
7. Transfer the meatballs to a serving dish. Raise the heat to medium high and reduce the sauce for 1-2 minutes until syrupy. Pour the sauce over the meatballs.
8. Garnish teriyaki meatballs with scallion and sesame seeds, and serve immediately. 

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Keywords: meatballs, back to school, japanese, teriyaki