Pajeon/ Korean Green Onion Pancake

Years ago, when I was living in Japan, I had an opportunity to eat Korean food from a restaurant in  Nagasaki, Japan. I ate stir-fried Korean noodles/ Japchae and Kimchi, both of which I immensely loved.   Two years ago I had a Korean Neighbor, and I asked her about the noodles, she told it is Japchae and I asked her for the recipe. She told she will give me, but then one fine day she moved out without giving me the recipe. So my love for Korean food came to a temporary end. Latter I came to know that she doesn’t like to cook that much.   Of course going to a Korean restaurant would be a way to eat Korean food, but with two crying babies that is out of the question. 

One day while browsing the internet about pancakes, I came to know about Pajeon. I liked it immediately as it contains green onions/Scallion, all purpose flour, rice flour, chilies, and is eaten by dipping in a thick vinegar soy sauce (Cho Ganjang).  I also borrowed a cook book Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee from the local library. This book doesn’t have not breathtaking photos, but every recipe is described well. I also found a great Korean cooking blogs like this and this. 

This pancake doesn’t look like a   pancake that we are used to making for breakfast; and it doesn’t have any leavening agent just like dosa (south Indian crepe/pancake). However compared to dosa the time needed to make pajeon is much less.  Dosa needs some planning, as batter needs to ferment for about 8 hours whereas pajeon can be made in jiffy.  I read that it is eaten as a snack or side dish along with meal, and is sold by street vendors. It is also served with Makgeolli rice wine. My proverb is “anything you can get from street vendors will be tasty; otherwise they won’t able to make a living out of it”.   

We watch a lot of foreign movies, and what I have seen from Korean movies is that their food is elaborate with lot of dishes and rice. In one movie the lead couple ate almost 3-4 times in 1 and half hour movie. I could also see from the movies, that South Korea is beautiful, with greeneries and nice beaches. May be some time I will visit there. 

Pajeon/Korean green onion pancake is different from Chinese green onion pancake which similar to Indian latcha paratha.  Next in my list is to try that Chinese green onion pancake. 

I made this pancake twice; the first day photo session was really bad. My hubby says he will conduct a blog event and give $1000 if somebody can take a picture with one toddler who is pulling your food while the other one is crying because he has been not held for some time. Conditions will be you have to click the picture within 5 seconds and almost no possibility of arranging the props. My hubby is my photographer most of the time, but he gets irritated if I asking him to take a picture of two foods in a day. So I admire all the food bloggers who takes stunning pictures with nice props and so on.

I made Paejon using all purpose flour , rice flour, green onion, carrot ,  green chili, and soy sauce.  While in this blog she used cake flour and egg which give extra crispiness. I will try that version next.  

When I made second time it turned out to be better looking (according to me) and tasting great. Original Vinegarsoy sauce has too much roasted sesame seeds according to me. So I reduced the amount of sesame seeds the second time. My little one was so happy and she enjoyed the pancake a lot. If she tells you it tastes good, then it is good no doubt. So when you buy green onion/scallions next time keep a bunch aside and try this pancake. You are going to love them. Here goes the recipe.

 One year ago: Watermelon Juice

Two year ago:Egg Bhurji from him

Print recipe from here.

Recipe adapted from Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee and Mangachi 

What you need

All-Purpose Flour: ½ cup
Rice Flour: 1/8 Cup
Cold Water: ½ cup
Green Onions (Scallions), cut into 2-inch pieces: 5 no

Carrot cut into 2 inch pieces: 1 no
Green Chili: 1 no
 Salt: ¼ teaspoon

Soya sauce: ¼ teaspoon

Canola Oil: 2 tablespoon

 

 

Vinegar Soy Sauce (Cho Ganjang)

Soy Sauce: 1 tablespoon
Rice Vinegar:  1 tablespoon
Sesame Oil: 1 tablespoon
Toasted Sesame Seeds: 11/2 teaspoon
Black Pepper: ½ teaspoon

How I made

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the  vinegar soy  sauce and set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix the flours and cold water, adding water a little at a time and mixing until the mixture is the consistency of thin pancake. 

In a separate bowl add the green onions, carrot, green chili and sea salt and mix until just combined.

Heat a skillet and add 1 tablespoon oil then line the green onions, carrot and green chili in two rows.  When it start soften turn the heat on medium high and add ½ the batter onto the pan in a large flat circle. Shake the pan around to distribute it, and continue cooking over medium-high heat. The batter will slightly brown on the bottom and begin to set. Then add the rest of the batter on the top.  Cook on one side until golden brown. Flip and brown the other side, pressing down with a spatula to make sure all surfaces contact the skillet.

Remove the pancake to a plate. Wipe the skillet with the oily paper towel and repeat with the rest of the batter, laying the pancakes on top of each other as they finish and holding them warm. Remove the pancake and cut into wedges or make smaller pancakes. Serve the pancakes hot with vinegar soy sauce.

jal meokkesseumnida ! Enjoy 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Serving: 3 serving

Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

I am linking this  Hearth and Soul blog hop# 104  hosted here. 

Also This Week’s Cravings theme is INTERNATIONAL FOODS

hosted by Kristy of Veggie converter.com