Korean Cheese Potato Pancakes (Without Rice Flour)

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If you have potatoes sitting in your pantry and want to try a new way of making potatoes, try these Korean cheesy potato pancakes! They are filled with plenty of cheese and fried until golden brown and crispy!

Have you seen these cheesy potato pancakes on TikTok and other social media?

They’ve been trending for a while and I finally got to make them! All you need is 4 BASIC INGREDIENTS: potatoes, sugar, cornstarch and mozzarella. I love potatoes as much as I love rice so I’m always eager to try new ways of making them!

You can have them as a snack, a side or an appetizer. They’re also super easy to customize. Add a bit of meat in the filling, some ham, bacon, etc. Or flavor your mashed potatoes with some cheese, garlic powder, or parsley…

Ingredients To Make Korean Cheese Potato Pancakes

• potatoes – for mashed potatoes in general, some recommend starchy potatoes but personally, I have always preferred firm potatoes that give your mashed potatoes a creamy texture.
• sugar – you can omit sugar if you would rather not have any sweetness to the pancakes.
• cornstarch – cornstarch helps hold the mashed potatoes together and shape them into pancakes.
• mozzarella – I used shredded mozzarella but a block of mozzarella cut into cubes is even better if you can find it in your supermarket. mozzarella blocks are more dense than shredded cheese so it allows you to pack a larger amount of cheese inside the pancake.
• salt – make sure you add a generous amount of salt to the water in which you boil potatoes so that the potatoes aren’t too bland. Especially since you do not want to add salt later on. The mashed potatoes are meant to be sweetened by sugar hence we want to avoid adding salt straight to the mashed potatoes.
• cooking oil – don’t be shy about cooking oil, we need to fry the pancakes’ surface, not just cook them. This way the pancakes get nice and crispy.

How to Make Korean Cheese Potato Pancakes

1. Cook the potatoes – In a pot, boil water with some salt. Make sure to add enough salt so that the potatoes don’t taste too bland since we aren’t adding any more salt later on (we want to avoid a strong salty taste as the potatoes are slightly sweetened by sugar).
2. Cut the potatoes into large chunks and boil until they are fully cooked. Drain the water then mash the potatoes.
3. Make mashed potato balls – Add sugar and cornstarch and combine with the mashed potatoes.
4. Grab some mashed potatoes (about 90g / 3.15 oz) and form a ball. Flatten the ball and add some mozzarella in the middle. Push the mozzarella in while wrapping up the mashed potatoes around the mozzarella. Shape it into a ball.
5. Flatten the ball so it forms a pancake about 1 cm / 0.4” thick.
6. Pan-fry the pancakes – In a pan, heat some cooking oil on medium heat and pan-fry the pancakes on each side for 3 minutes or until they become golden brown – add a generous amount of oil so that the pancakes fry properly.

Can I Reheat These Cheese Potato Pancakes?

Yes, typically I like to pan-fry them again so they get their crispiness back. But you can also pop them for 30 seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in an air fryer.

What To Serve With These Cheese Potato Pancakes?

They taste great and cheesy on their own but you can also have them with some sauce. I like to make a garlic sauce with a hint of lemon. Or the other day my family was having them with some sweet and sour sauce. If you like you can also have them as a side together with some meat. They really fit all purposes :’)

Do You Want More Korean Savory Snacks? Try These:

• Korean Fried Chicken (Bite-Size)
• Korean Corn Dogs
• Spicy Korean Fried Chicken

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