Simple Vegan Pancakes

James and I have developed what I call the Korean-Taiwanese kitchen treaty. The terms: Tuesdays are Taiwanese night (he cooks at his place or mine — lu rou fan, dan bing, three-cup chicken, the dishes his mother taught him). Thursdays are Korean night (I cook — kimchi jjigae, bulgogi, doenjang jjigae, the rotation). Saturdays are fusion night (we cook together, combining ingredients and techniques, the treaty's creative clause). The treaty is unwritten, negotiated through appetite rather than contract, and it works because both parties bring genuine skill and genuine appetite to the table.

This Saturday's fusion project: kimchi scallion pancakes. My kimchi, his scallion pancake technique. The result was extraordinary — the crispy, flaky layers of a Taiwanese scallion pancake infused with the sour heat of Korean kimchi, the two cuisines merging so naturally that the pancake felt like it had always existed, waiting for a Korean woman and a Taiwanese man to discover it together. James said, "We should open a restaurant." I said, "We should not open a restaurant." He said, "But we should keep making this pancake." Yes. The pancake. The fusion. The us. We should keep making the us.

At work, the food preference model generated a presentation invitation from an external conference — the ACM RecSys conference wants a paper submission. Derek is excited. I'm cautiously interested. Writing an academic paper about food preference prediction while living the food preference prediction (Korean food leads to Taiwanese food leads to Korean-Taiwanese fusion leads to a relationship built on shared bowls) is the kind of meta-experience that would amuse Dr. Yoon.

Speaking of Dr. Yoon: this week she asked about the birth mother search, which I haven't mentioned in months. The GOA'L database: eleven months, no match. 325Kamra: three months, no match. I've been so consumed by James that the search has receded — not abandoned, but quieted, the way background music plays under a conversation. Dr. Yoon said, "The search and the relationship can coexist. You don't have to choose." She's right. I don't have to choose between searching for my birth mother and falling in love. Both are happening. Both are real. The human heart, it turns out, has room for more than one search at a time.

Kevin called midweek. I told him about James. Kevin said, "Does he eat Korean food?" I said, "He eats my kimchi from the jar." Kevin said, "Then he's good." The kimchi-from-the-jar test. The Park family seal of approval, administered by the brother who learned to make galbi last summer and now considers himself a Korean food authority. Kevin asked when he'd meet James. I said, "Soon. He wants to visit Bridge City." Kevin said, "Tell him to bring kimchi." Everyone wants my kimchi. The kimchi is my calling card, my handshake, my red-stained introduction to every new person and every new context. I am Stephanie Park. I make kimchi. This is who I am.

The kimchi scallion pancake we made this Saturday didn’t start with a complicated fusion blueprint — it started with a simple, reliable vegan pancake batter that James and I both keep in our back pockets, the kind that takes fifteen minutes and never argues back. Before the kimchi went in, before the scallions got folded through, before we had something that felt like it had always existed, there was this: a clean, simple base that trusted us to bring the story. If you want to try your own Saturday treaty experiment, start here.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4 (about 8 pancakes)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened oat milk (or any plant-based milk)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil, plus more for the pan
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the vegan buttermilk. Stir together the oat milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl or measuring cup. Let it sit for 5 minutes until slightly curdled and thickened.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
Combine wet and dry. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the vegan buttermilk mixture and stir briefly. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined — a few small lumps are fine. Do not overmix.
Rest the batter. Let the batter sit undisturbed for 3—5 minutes while you heat the pan. This gives the leaveners time to activate and helps produce fluffier pancakes.
Cook the pancakes. Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat and brush lightly with vegetable oil. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto the surface. Cook until bubbles form across the surface and the edges look set, about 2—3 minutes. Flip and cook 1—2 minutes more until golden brown on the bottom.
Serve immediately. Transfer finished pancakes to a warm plate and repeat with remaining batter. Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit, or — if you’re following Saturday treaty rules — a spoonful of well-drained kimchi and a handful of sliced scallions folded in before cooking.

Nutrition (per serving)

Simple Vegan Pancakes — The Blank Canvas Behind Our Saturday Fusion Tradition