Pajeon (Green Onion Pancake)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cold water
1 egg
1 T miso paste
1 bunch green onions (green part only, reserve white part for other use)
soy sauce
Prepare the onions by slicing them lengthwise into strips so that they cook fairly quickly. I also chop them in half crosswise, so they are about 4 inches in length. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix together the water and miso paste until well blended. Whisk in the egg and flour. Heat a 10″ non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and add a thin layer of vegetable oil. Add green onions and gently cook for a few minutes. Add a touch of soy sauce to season. (You can add any of the option additions, listed below, at this point, and toss to heat through.)
Add the batter, covering the onions evenly, and lower the heat to low-medium for about 6 minutes, and keep checking to see if the bottom has begun to brown. Turn the heat back to medium-high, then flip the pancake over and cook for an additional 6-8 minutes, checking to make sure you don’t scorch the bottom. Turn once more and when the pancake is cooked through and the edges crispy, transfer to a plate and cut into wedges for serving.
Dipping Sauce
3 T soy sauce
1-2 T rice vinegar
a few drops of sesame oil
a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds (optional)
gochujang (optional, if you want your sauce spicy)
Mix all ingredients together, adjust seasonings to taste.
Optional additions
shelled, deveined shrimp
strips of squid
mussels, out of shell
clams, out of shell
imitation crabmeat (not my favorite addition, but some places add this)
real crab or lobster meat
In adding seafood, it will then be haemul paejon. You would add the seafood after you cook the onions but before you add the batter.
