One of the most popular Korean food is seafood scallion pancake (해물 파전 - hae mul pa jeon). I can't agree more since I don't know any better way that will make me happily eat a whole bunch of scallion in one sitting. Other people run into problems with too many overripe bananas, but I sometimes have problems of too many scallions in the refrigerator. I always keep scallion in the fridge (along with garlic, onion and ginger), and it's an easy, delicious option to use a lot of scallion. Seafood - referring to shellfish in this case - is a popular version, and it tastes so much better to use fresh ones even if you have to freeze them again at home before using them. You can certainly make this a vegetarian version by just eliminating seafood.
'Makgeolli (막걸리- rice beer) and pajeon' is almost a set phrase in Korea where people consider them as a classic paring. They are often mentioned together on rainy days, because it's just so perfect to eat some crispy, warm pajeon and drink cold rice beer when the whole world seems dark and wet. Even without rain, haemul pajeon seems to be a good dinner option on this frigid cold day, or rather, this frigid week in New York.
The ingredients are easy to get and the recipe is simple. But making anything with oil in a tiny kitchen becomes a project where you will inevitably end up with oil splatters and oh that nice smell of oil filling up the whole apartment. Make it worth while by making more than what you need now. You can cool them to room temperature then freeze them in a ziploc bag (with parchment in between so that they don't stick to each other, but then, you can just whack'em and they'll come off, too). I don't mean you should make 10x what you need. It's just nice to get another meal out of the effort you go through making this pajeon. From the freezer, you can always microwave it to heat up. To bring back its crispiness, heat it up in a pan over low heat until warm and crispy. This time, you probably don't need additional oil. See the bottom of this post for more tips of making savory pancakes.
Seafood Pancakes (해물파전 - hae mul pa jeon)
Yields: 4 6-inch pancakes (About 4 Side Servings)
INGREDIENTS:
2 C Scallion (about 10 stalks), washed
1/4 C Canola oil (or other neutral tasting cooking oil)
1 C A mix of shellfish
(such as shrimp, squid, baby octopus, scallop, clams, oysters)
preferably fresh, cleaned and cut to small pieces
Optional) 1 Red Fresno pepper or a jalapeno pepper,
cut to thin slices with seeds to make it spicy
Batter
1 C Water
1/2 C All-purpose flour
1/2 C White rice flour
1 t Baking powder
1 Egg
1/2 t Salt
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and grated
TT Black pepper, freshly ground
Dipping Sauce
1 T Soy sauce
1 t ~ 1 T Rice vinegar
* Feel free to add toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes
1. Combine all ingredients for the batter - water, all-purpose flour, rice flour, baking powder, egg, salt, garlic and black pepper - and whisk to a smooth batter, to a consistency of a pancake batter. Set aside and let it rest about 30 minutes.
2. Trim scallions by removing roots. Cut scallion to about 2-inch sticks. Cut the thick, white parts (closer to the root) into half lengthwise.
3. Heat a skillet, preferably nonstick or cast iron, over medium heat and drizzle oil to generously coat the bottom of the skillet.
4. Add seafood into the batter and mix well. Then add scallions, and if using, spicy pepper slices, and mix well.
5. When the oil is shimmering, add 1/4 of the batter and spread quickly on the pan. Keep the heat at medium-high throughout cooking. Take a spoonful of just the flour batter and coat the top of seafood pieces. This will help prevent seafood from sticking to the bottom as natural sugar from seafood will tend to stick to the skillet once you flip to the other side.
6. When the edges turn crispy golden and the middle part starts to dry, carefully lift the pancake to check the color of the bottom. If it's golden brown, flip to the other side. Ideally, you only want to flip once. Cook until both sides are golden brown. Add oil as necessary. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
7. Serve hot with a dipping sauce.
! TIPS !
* I find the best bang for the buck in a mix of fresh shrimp and squid (as pictured above). They are relatively cheap, it takes about the same amount of time for them to cook (very quick), and has plenty of oceany sweetness with texture.
* Oil and heat are the most important factors for making this type of pancake. Always keep the pan coated with oil. As much as it's full of good scallions, please let oil do its work here. It doesn't need to swim in oil, but the bottom of the pan should always be nicely coated with oil.
* The pan should be kept hot throughout cooking. It should be just below smoking, so keep the heat at medium or medium high. If you see the pan starts smoking, turn off heat for a minute so that it cools off just a bit. Then back to medium-high heat. I certainly don't like this as steamed, soggy, yet dry pancake as it sometimes happens at low heat (combined with not enough oil).
* The first pancake tends to be a sacrificial batch as the pan is still heating up. Make the first batch smaller while you get to know your pan, pancake batter and oil and understand how you can all work together.
* Make the pancake smaller than the size of your pan. It'll give you a better control when you flip the pancake, which will help you keep it in one piece.
Have fun & Stay warm!
RELATED POSTS
KOREAN WORDS
해물 (hae mul) seafood in general
파 (pa) scallion
전 (jeon) pancake (mostly savory)
