Japanese Vegetable Pancakes with Dipping Sauce

I have admitted before that as a child I was a horribly picky eater. No food touching each other, no pasta, no tomatoes, no PB & J. Yup, a regular nightmare. My mom always had to make something separate for me, a truth which she never failed to remind me of once my tastes shifts and expanded greatly!

But I always ate my vegetables.

Salad was my one true love, especially with a good vinaigrette. How I loved my vinegar! So going vegetarian was no hardship for me, it was simply a refocusing on my beloved veggies. But for many, incorporating vegetables into their diet is more of a challenge. Enter these vegetable pancakes.

Shred lots of cabbage, carrots and some kale and add beaten eggs and you have a delicious, veggie-centric meal that is exotic enough to make your mouth sing and yet homey enough for the kids. Tell them the sauce is mostly ketchup and they'll be hooked!

Japanese Vegetable Pancakes with Dipping Sauce (From Smitten Kitchen)

Pancakes
1/2 small green cabbage, sliced thin (I used my mandoline) about 5 cups
2 carrots, ribboned using a vegetable peeler
5 leaves of kale or swiss chard, deribbed and sliced in ribbons
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup flour
6 large eggs, beaten well
olive oil

Sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Combine all of the vegetables in a bowl and add in eggs and mix well. Add flour and salt and combine well to distribute evenly.  Heat a heavy skillet over medium high heat for at least 5 minutes. Add oil to coat bottom of pan and drop tablespoon size pancake mix into skillet and flatten and fry on both sides until browned. Keep warm in oven on low heat until all of batter is fried.

To make sauce, combine all ingredients in small sauce pan and simmer for 3-5 minutes until well combined. Chill in refrigerator while you make veggie pancakes. Serve chilled.

Hugs!