Soyeon’s Kimchi-Less Pancake: What Goes In and How to Make It
Soyeon’s “kimchi-less kimchi pancake” keeps the kimchi liquid and leaves out the cabbage pieces. That is why the name sounds contradictory. The idea appeared on MBC’s I Live Alone in May 2022, when she explained that she disliked vegetables. It is a celebrity home-cooking idea, not a restaurant recommendation.
Read MBC’s story about Soyeon’s dish →
Why Soyeon made it this way
MBC’s report contrasts her forceful stage image with her quieter daily routine. Cooking this unusual pancake was part of that portrait: she was showing how she ate at home, not presenting a conventional version of a Korean dish. The appeal is keeping a familiar flavor while changing the pieces you have to chew.
Ingredients in VISITKOREA’s recipe
- Kimchi liquid: 2 ladles
- Korean pancake mix (buchimgaru): ½ cup
- Korean frying mix (twigimgaru): ½ cup
- Cooking oil
- Soy sauce for dipping, if wanted
These quantities come from the Korea Tourism Organization’s published version. A ladle is not a standardized milliliter measure, so do not turn “2 ladles” into an exact volume without checking your own batter.
How to cook the pancake
- Combine the two dry mixes.
- Stir in kimchi liquid until the batter is slightly runny; add a little water if necessary.
- Heat oil in a frying pan and pour in some batter.
- Cook on both sides until golden and crisp. Serve with soy sauce to taste.
Open VISITKOREA’s illustrated recipe →
Shopping for the two mixes
Keep the Korean names 부침가루 and 튀김가루 on your shopping list. They identify the two mixes in the source recipe. A packet labelled pancake mix in an overseas supermarket may instead be intended for sweet breakfast pancakes, so compare the actual product label.
If you replace either mix with plain flour, treat that as a separate experiment. We have not tested a flour-only substitute and will not promise the same texture. The published recipe also does not establish a fixed number of pancakes or an exact cooking time for every pan.
Does “kimchi-less” mean no kimchi at all?
No. The liquid still comes from kimchi. The useful distinction is no cabbage pieces, not “no kimchi ingredients.” If you are choosing the recipe for dietary reasons, read the ingredients of the kimchi and mixes you actually buy.
The photo is VISITKOREA’s recipe photograph. It is not a screenshot of Soyeon’s own finished plate. Keeping that distinction makes it easier to compare the recipe illustration with the television story.
More Korean food through familiar faces
For another simple celebrity cooking idea, try Jung Kook’s Bulguri guide. For a meal out instead, Pungja’s Guri noodle stop explains a different texture combination: thick noodles, potatoes and distinctly spicy kimchi.
Sources: iMBC’s report dated May 14, 2022, and VISITKOREA’s “Super-easy Korean Recipes from Hallyu Celebrities,” published June 7, 2024. Recipe and source links checked October 21, 2026. We have not personally taste-tested this recipe.