Have you heard about Korean pancakes made from mung beans? This tasty Korean pancake, known as bindaetteok, is made from ground mung beans or mung bean flour. Here you will learn how to make it at home from scratch!
What is Bindaetteok
Bindaetteok or Bindae-tteok (빈대떡), is a Korean pancake that is primarily made from mung beans. These mung beans can be sourced from dried mung beans ground into slurry mung bean pancake mixture or from pre-made mung bean flour mix.
Obviously, it is much easier and convenient to make mung bean pancakes from mung bean flour mix, and you can get this from a Korean grocery store.
Bindaetteok is also known as Nokdu-Jeon (녹두전) and it is often sold at street markets in Korea. Gwangjang Market in Seoul is arguably the most famous place for bindaetteok in Korea.
Other than mung beans, bindaetteok batter also includes water, minced pork, chopped kimchi, bean sprouts and a variety of seasonings to bring out more savory and nutty taste.
Once the bindaetteok mixture is prepared, it is spread out thinly into a circular shape and then cooked on a hot pan over generous amounts of cooking oil. Using generous amounts of oil will result in crisper, more beautiful golden mung bean pancakes.
Korean mung bean pancakes are often served with kimchi, pickled onions or Korean pancake sauce.
Dried Mung Beans vs. Mung Bean Flour
Making bindaetteok with dried mung beans is quite a labour-intensive task. Traditionally, they would use a stone mill called maetdol (멧돌) to crush the beans but nowadays most people use an electric grinder or food processor.
To make mung bean pancakes, you’ll need to soak the dried mung beans in water for several hours, and then grind them into a batter. Raw mung beans can be purchased at most Asian supermarkets and can be soaked overnight. I used pre-hulled, split beans to make preparation easier.
Most mung bean flour for bindaetteok is pre-seasoned with salt and other seasonings, so it is more convenient to use. The color of the pancakes may also vary depending on which brand of mung bean flour you use.
My Best Tips
- Before putting kimchi into the pancake batter, rinse the kimchi well. Otherwise, the kimchi can influence the flavor and the color of the bindaetteok a bit much.
- Many people use gosari (fernbrake or fiddlehead) when they make bindaetteok, but it can be omitted like I did here, if you can’t find it easily.
- Bindaetteok is a filling and hearty dish. You can easily eat it as a meal or appetizer or side dish for dinner. The leftovers can be refrigerated for to 2-3 days or frozen for a month at a time. Defrost the pancake at room temperature and then heat in a pan over low heat or in the microwave.
Other Korean Pancake Recipes
If you love Korean pancakes, you should check out my pancake recipes below. You won’t be disappointed!
- Pajeon (Korean Seafood Pancake)
- Kimchi Jeon (Kimchi Pancake)
- Chive Pancake (Buchujeon)
- Korean Potato Pancake (Gamja Jeon)
Bindaetteok Ingredients
Mung Bean Pancake Batter
Option 1) Mung Bean Flour
- 1 and 1/4 cup mung bean flour mix
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1 cup water
Option 2) Dried Mung Beans
- 1 cup (215g / 7.6 ounces) dried peeled and split mung beans
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
- 1 Tbsp potato starch
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
Meat & Vegetables
- 150g / 5.3 ounces minced pork
- 100g / 3.5 ounces mung bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
- 50g / 1.8 ounces green onion (white part), thinly sliced
- 150g / 5.3 ounces ripe kimchi, rinsed and squeezed, thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp cooking oil or more as required
Meat Marinade
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce (I used regular kikoman soy sauce)
- 1/2 Tbsp rice wine
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
- A few sprinkles of ground black pepper
* 1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 Cup = 250 ml
How to Grind Mung Beans for Bindaetteok
If you decided to use actual mung beans instead of mung bean flour mix, follow the steps below.
1. Soak mung beans in a large bowl for 4 hours. Drain the water well.
2. Transfer the mung bean into a blender or food processor and add the water (3/4 cup). Grind until it turns smooth, about 2 minutes.
3. Pour out the pureed mung beans onto a mixing bowl, then add the glutinous rice flour, potato starch and fine salt.
How to Make Bindaetteok
1. Prepare a medium-sized bowl and add the pancake batter ingredients. Whisk it well. (If you are using dried mung beans and followed the steps above, you can skip this part.) Set aside for 30 – 40 minutes. (Only do this if you used a mung bean flour mix. This is just following the instructions on the package.)
2. Prepare a small bowl and add minced pork and marinade. Mix them well. Set aside for 30 minutes.
3. Once 30-40 minutes have passed, add the marinated pork, mung bean sprouts, green onions, and kimchi to the mung bean pancake batter. Mix well.
4. Preheat the pan on medium-high heat until the bottom of the pan is well heated. Add the cooking oil and ensure the oil is spread all the way around the pan. (Watch out for the oil splash.) Reduce the heat to medium. Scoop out the pancake mixture with a ladle and spread it evenly and thinly around the pan.
Once the bottom of the pancake is set, move the pancake around in a circular motion from time to time so the pancake doesn’t stick to the pan.
Flip the pancake over when you see the bottom of the pancake is partially cooked. (This makes it easy to turn the pancake. It takes around 2 to 3 minutes depending on the thickness of the pancake).
5. Replenish a bit of cooking oil around the edges of the pancake, if necessary. Press down the pancake with a spatula a couple of times to sizzle and make it crispy. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and transfer it onto a plate or a cutting board.
6. Repeat steps 4 to 5 for the remaining batter. Serve with some kimchi and pickled onions.
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Bindaetteok Recipe
Ingredients
MUNG BEAN PANCAKE BATTER
Option 1) Mung Bean Flour
- 1 1/4 cup mung bean flour mix
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1 cup water
Option 2) Dried Mung Beans
- 1 cup dried peeled and split mung beans
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
- 1 Tbsp potato starch
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
MEAT & VEGETABLES
- 150 g minced pork (5.3 ounces)
- 100 g mung bean sprouts (3.5 ounces), rinsed and drained
- 50 g green onion (1.8 ounces), (white part), thinly sliced
- 150 g ripe kimchi (5.3 ounces), rinsed and squeezed, thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp cooking oil (more if required)
Instructions
HOW TO GRIND MUNG BEANS FOR BINDAETTEOK
- Soak mung beans in a large bowl for 4 hours. Drain the water well.
- Transfer the mung bean into a blender or food processor and add the water (3/4 cup). Grind until it turns smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Pour out the pureed mung beans onto a mixing bowl, then add the glutinous rice flour, potato starch and fine salt.
HOW TO MAKE BINDAETTEOK
- Prepare a medium-sized bowl and add the pancake batter ingredients. Whisk it well. (If you are using dried mung beans and followed the steps above, you can skip this part.) Set aside for 30 - 40 minutes. (Only do this if you used a mung bean flour mix. This is just following the instructions on the package.)
- Prepare a small bowl and add minced pork and marinade. Mix them well. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Once 30-40 minutes have passed, add the marinated pork, mung bean sprouts, green onions, and kimchi to the mung bean pancake batter. Mix well.
- Preheat the pan on medium-high heat until the bottom of the pan is well heated. Add the cooking oil and ensure the oil is spread all the way around the pan. (Watch out for the oil splash.) Reduce the heat to medium. Scoop out the pancake mixture with a ladle and spread it evenly and thinly around the pan.Once the bottom of the pancake is set, move the pancake around in a circular motion from time to time so the pancake doesn’t stick to the pan.Flip the pancake over when you see the bottom of the pancake is partially cooked. (This makes it easy to turn the pancake. It takes around 2 to 3 minutes depending on the thickness of the pancake).
- Replenish a bit of cooking oil around the edges of the pancake, if necessary. Press down the pancake with a spatula a couple of times to sizzle and make it crispy. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and transfer it onto a plate or a cutting board.
- Repeat steps 4 to 5 for the remaining batter. Serve with some kimchi and pickled onions.
Notes
- The leftovers can be refrigerated for to 2-3 days or frozen for a month at a time. Defrost the pancake at room temperature and then heat in a pan over low heat or in the microwave.
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
