The idea for these pancakes came about when I made pork dumplings a few days ago and had leftover ground pork filling. I didn’t want to waste the filling, so I added it into a mixture of flour and water and turned it into a savory type of pancake. The consistency and texture of the pancake is very similar to the seafood pancakes I’ve had at Korean restaurants in Manhattan’s k-town on 32nd street. The first time I made this pancake, I just dumped the filling into equal parts of flour and water mixture, and then fried up the batter. The result was good, but it was missing something. While I was frying the pancakes, I wished I had browned the meat first. Over the weekend, I made minced pork rice and had some leftover ground pork, so I tried making the pancakes again. This time, I browned the ground pork before mixing it into the flour and water mixture. The result was an even tastier savory pancake.
Pork and Shrimp Pancakes
· ¼ pound ground pork
· 2 stalks scallions, thinly sliced
· 1 teaspoon soy sauce
· ½ teaspoon oyster sauce
· ½ teaspoon Shaoxing wine
· ½ teaspoon sugar
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, separated
· 6 large frozen shrimp, defrosted, chopped
· ½ cup all-purpose flour
· ½ cup water
Directions:
1) In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, scallions, soy sauce, oyster sauce, wine, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
2) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Once hot, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil. Add the pork mixture into the skillet. Cook until the pork mixture is browned, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add in the shrimp and cook until slightly pink, about 1 minute. Remove the ground pork and shrimp from the skillet.
3) In another bowl, combine the flour and water until a smooth batter is formed. Add in the pork and shrimp mixture. Stir all ingredients until just combined.
4) In the same skillet set on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Pour in half the batter. Cook until pancake is golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove pancake from skillet. Add another tablespoon of vegetable oil and repeat with the remaining half of the batter.
Takeaways: Having made the pancakes without browning the meat first, and browning the meat first, I noticed a difference in the pancakes using browned meat. Browning the meat first gave the pancake layers of crispiness. There was the crispiness of the pork and then the added crispiness of the pancake itself. Try it and see for yourself.