Recipe: Updated Vegetable Pa Jeon
2 Jun
Pa Jeon (pa jun, paejon) is a simple pancake consisting of scallions, onions, zucchini and usually, seafood or meat. It’s a popular appetizer dish that is often shared at the table. This entry is an update to my earlier post. While the old recipe is fine, I wanted to update and share with you what I’ve learned since then.
When making Pa Jeon, I like to aim for two things: chewiness and crispness. I’ve had many unsuccessful attempts at achieving a chewy pancake when using just flour and eggs. It had a strange doughy aftertaste that I didn’t care for. As you know, it wasn’t until I attended this event that I found out what the secret ingredient was.
Apparently, I was missing rice flour! Adding that into the batter definitely brought out a chewy pancake. As for the crispness, it only comes from using a lot of oil. I was willing to sacrifice that for a healthier pancake. Feel free to add about 2 tablespoons of oil for each pancake if you want it to be really crispy!
Recipe: Vegetable Pajeon (Korean pancakes)
Makes 4 pancakes (about 24 pieces)
Ingredients:
Pancake
1 cup of rice flour
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of water
3 stalks of scallions (cut into matchsticks)
1 medium carrot (cut into matchsticks)
1 medium zucchini (cut into matchsticks)
1 small white onion (diced)
4 teaspoons of vegetable oil (1 teaspoon per pancake)
1 teaspoon of salt
Dipping sauce
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of vinegar
Dash of black pepper
Dash of gochugaru (red pepper flakes)
Procedure:
1. In a large bowl, combine both kinds of flour with salt and water. Mix together well. If the batter is too thick, add more water, little by little.
2. Add vegetables to the bowl.
3. Heat up a cast iron pan (or regular frying pan) over high heat with oil. Ladle one generous scoop of mixture onto the pan and spread around evenly.
4. Lower heat to medium. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, until brown and crispy. Flip over and cook on the other side.
5. Divide into 6 pieces and serve with dipping sauce.
