i’m craving korean.

If you asked me what my favorite type of food is, I’d have a very difficult time answering you. I grew up in Honolulu, which means growing up in a melting pot of (predominantly Asian) cultures, and eating their respective foods during school potlucks, parties, and at any of the available Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, Hawaiian, Greek, American, Portuguese, Indian, American, or (insert one or two Ethnic groups here) hybrid/fusion restaurants around town. My parents even dared taking my little sister and I, when we were probably about 8 and 10, to a fine dining French restaurant where I tried escargot for the first time. While we weren’t quite as adventurous as some of our friends (no chicken feet or sea cucumber for me, thanks) we got to know a lot of different foods, and to this day, I get the most random cravings for things like a Korean green onion pancake, called pajeon.

This dish only has a few ingredients, and if you can cook a regular breakfast pancake, you can make this! It makes a great appetizer for a few people, or, a dinner for two. Jules and I had this with a side of kimchee (pickled cabbage) for dinner tonight and it was the perfect amount of food. And bonus, it killed my Korean food craving for now!

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.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply