Nokdujeon, aka nokdu bindaetteok, is a type of savory Korean pancake made with ground nokdu (mung beans). The result is crispy golden brown pancakes that are soft and nutty with some added crunch from the vegetables.
I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas with lots of great food! Hopefully, Santa was nice to you as well! Like most of you, I’ve been incredibly busy shopping, wrapping, cooking, eating, and most importantly hanging out with my loving family!
As the new year approaches, I thought I’d share a dish that I grew up eating on New Year’s day and other traditional holidays. I now make them quite often for my family throughout the year. Nokdujeon (녹두전), also called nokdu bindaetteok (녹두 빈대떡), is a type of savory Korean pancake made with ground nokdu (mung beans).
To make these pancakes, you’ll need to soak the dried mung beans in water for a few hours, and then ground into a batter.
Typically, mung bean sprouts, pork, gosari (fern brakes), scallions, and/or kimchi are added to the batter for additional flavor and texture.
The result is crispy golden brown pancakes that are soft and nutty with some added crunch from the vegetables.
For a vegetarian or vegan nokdu bindaetteok, you can simply omit the pork.
This recipe makes quite a few pancakes, but it’s very easy to cut the recipe in half if desired. These pancakes freeze well. Simply defrost them at room temperature, and then reheat in a pan over low heat or microwave.
I hope you make this Korean holiday favorite for your New Year’s feast.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried peeled and split mung beans* yields about 4 cups soaked
- 8 ounces 230 grams sukju namul (mung bean sprouts)
- 8 ounces 230 grams kimchi
- 6 - 8 scallions
- 4 ounces 110 grams pork , ground or finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- salt
- vegetable oil for pan frying
Dipping Sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- pinch of black pepper
- pinch of red pepper flakes gochugaru - optional
Instructions
- Rinse and soak the mung beans in water for 3 - 4 hours. Drain.
- Meanwhile, cook the mung bean sprouts in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Drain and gently squeeze out excess water. Thinly slice the kimchi and scallions. In a large bowl, combine the kimchi, bean sprouts, scallions, meat, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic. Mix well.
- In a blender, grind 2 cups of the soaked beans in 1 cup of cold water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt until it has a coarse, sandlike consistency.
- Add to the vegetable and meat mixture. Repeat with the remaining beans. Gently mix the mung bean batter until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan over medium to medium high heat. Ladle the mixture into the pan and spread it evenly into a thin round shape. Cook until the bottom is golden brown (2 - 3 minutes), and turn it over, adding more oil. Press it down with a spatula, and cook for another 2- 3 minutes. Repeat the process with the rest of the mixture.
- Serve hot off the pan with the dipping sauce.
can eggs be added to the batter or would eggs spoil the consistency?
thanks for the recipe, i’m eager to try it!
Your presentation and plating is simply beautiful. I have admired your ceramic dishes and bowls so much that I have actively been searching for and collecting beautiful and interesting pottery. I often find them in resale shops, but also support our local potters. I know it sounds silly, but I believe that food tastes better in beautiful receptacles!
Hyosun, thank you for this recipe! I have loved the Mung Bean pancakes from H-Mart especially because they seem to be Gluten free? AND are full of nutritious vegies. Just curious–why did you leave out the fernbrake? I see elderly ladies picking it near where I live, and H-Mart includes it in its Bibimbap vegies. What is so good about fernbrake?
I just make these and they are so delicious!! My family loves them!!
Great to hear that! Thank you, Anonymous!
Can you tell me which brand of the split and peeled mung beans you use? I can get to several Korean (and Indian) grocery stores so I should be able to find it. Thanks!
Courtney
Courtney – I like Jayone Nara brand. It’s a Korean brand but the beans are grown in the U.S. I will add a photo of it to this post soon.
Thanks so much. Can you tell me which store you usually buy it from? (Lotte, H-Mart, Grand Mart?)
Courtney
I bought a couple of bags from Hanaro in Centreville a while back, which has been taken over by H Mart. I don’t think H Mart carries this brand. I saw them in Grand Mart in Centreville today. Hope this helps.
update – I recently bought a bag from Lotte in Fairfax.
Excellent recipe, thank you for sharing.My family loved the pancakes.
Anonymous – I am delighted to hear your family loved the pancakes. Thank you so much for trying out my recipe and leaving me the feedback. I greatly appreciate it.
Looks wonderful! This is actually on my to-try-list, when I first saw this mungbean pancake recipe in a cookbook, it’s really intriguing me and I wanted to know how it tastes like. I am curious about using the mungbean in the batter and the nutty taste. It’s kind of tedious but I will sure to make it one day. 😉
Little Corner of mine – Hope you try it! You’ll really like it. Cheers!
Hi, I am a new follower, it is nice to meet you. I have been looking for a recipe like this, thank you, I just bought mung beans yesterday. Can’t wait to try this. Happy New Year.
Suzi – Nice to meet you as well! Try it. You will like it. Happy New Year!
AMAZING!!! i LOVE nokdujeon and when i saw the recipe i got very excited. i made this for new years day lunch at my in-laws and everybody raved about them. thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Hi, Anonymous! I am so happy to hear you and your in-laws like them. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me the feedback. I really appreciate it.
Delicious. These remind me of these other korean pancakes we would eat a lot while living there. I think they were called Pajeon? I just ate some kimchi, and now I want those!
Thank you, Loveforfood! You are so kind.
Emily – Pajeon is great too. Thanks for stopping by!
I would say these are some of the best photographs I have seen.