Monday, May 16, 2011

Green Onion Pancake (Pa-Jeon)

Koreans make Green Onion Pancakes (Pa Jeon) for a very low key snack or big holiday side dish.

When I (Jeana) was little, my mom would make this for our rainy day snack.  I'm from a small town in Korea so I had never heard or tasted of pizza until I was in 8th grade when I finally visited Seoul, so this dish was kind of our version of pizza back then! : )

There are lots of different versions of these pancakes (Jeon) but this time we made the most simple one using only green onions.  If you have left over kimchi or seafood (squid, mussels, shrimp..) you can just throw some in and it will taste even better!
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*Ingredients for 1 pancake*
Korean Pancake Mix or Flour 1Cup
Water -- about 1Cup
A bunch of thin green onions
Red chili pepper 1 sliced

*Dipping Sauce*
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 T chopped green onions
Red and green chili peppers sliced
1t vinegar
Red pepper flakes (Optional)


This is Korean Pancake Mix.


In a medium bowl, combine pancake mix and water. If necessary, add more water to make batter desired thickness. (It shouldn't be too thick)


Heat a frying pan over medium high heat and add vegetable oil. Spread the green onions on the pan.


Pour the batter over green onions and make a round or square shape with a spatula. (another way: chop the green onions about 3 inch length and mix it with batter)


Add red pepper.


While one side is cooking, make the dipping sauce by combining the ingredients listed above.


When the bottom is a little brown and crispy, turn it over. (I turned it over a little too early...oops! but still tasted good!)


Serve it with the dipping sauce. We often eat this with rice wine in Korea.

24 comments:

Heather Taylor said...

i have been lucky enough to eat this little bit of heaven. love love love

Amelia Morris said...

i need this!! SO pretty!

yeonhee said...

This makes me really hungry!!

Ana Degenaar said...

I could live for this stuff. No kidding.

thetwicebitten said...

in the words of hot chocolate " every post's a winner baby"

looks brilliant

Anonymous said...

for the vinegar , what kind do you use, rice vinegar?

jeana sohn said...

@anonymous
rice vinegar is good but regular white vinegar works too. :)

Anonymous said...

thank you for yet another inspirational recipe. i will try this one as well.

sandy

Anonymous said...

I LOVE your blog! It's all the recipes my mom makes that I was afraid to try.

Sue said...

Ever your food looks like art! I love how your pa jeon turned out, so pretty~

Jessica said...

It looks delicious. So simple! I'm looking forward to making it. x

Bo said...

omg now i'm craving haemul pajeon and dongdongju!! love your site, btw! :)

Emily Eldridge said...

Thank you for posting this! So excited about this blog!

Hausfrau said...

I love these but have never made my own! If you use flour rather than Korean pancake mix, do you need to add something to it, such as baking powder?

Bo said...

@Hausfrau
No just even amounts of flour and water works fine.

Sara said...

you may have posted about the indigo sashiko-like hot pad or cloth under the wood bowl.. ? are they available anywhere?

Quyen Huynh said...

i freakin love this site for the mouth-watering foods. thanks for showing the packages as it would make it easier to shop!

Bo said...

@ Sara
We found those in Japan at a flea market. I'm kind of obsessed with this type of fabric.

Sara said...

I am too- r4th finds it at Pacific flea market in LA
http://ready4thehouse.blogspot.com/2008/09/bowlsborobelt.html

scroll down and you will see some old 'rags' with sashiko. very nice.

Patricia Ann said...

The green onions here are so cheap but I hardly get to use all of them because I have no idea how. I usually serve it as a garnish in my meals. So I end up just throwing them out once they turn bad.

Thank you for this! I'll be trying it soon!

Patricia Ann
www.theshapesofthings.com

Jessica said...

Tried making this tonight although sadly it ended up in the bin. I used flour and water and it seemed to just turn to glue and not form a pancake when cooked... Any idea where I went wrong?

Bo said...

@Sara
Sometimes it's tricky to get the right consistency. First make sure the pan is hot. If batter seems too runny after you put it in the pan you need to just let it sit on the pan longer so the excess water evaporates and the bottom turns firm and crispy. If the batter doesn't turn brown and crispy add a little more oil.
Sometimes it's easier if you just chop the onions into small pieces and mix into the batter and pour it all into the pan at once. A smaller pan is also easier. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it so don't give up!

Patricia Ann said...

I just made this for dinner. I found that the 1 to 1 ratio for the flour and water or pancake mix is too much for making this. I didn't realize that the batter would thicken up really well. I was thinking it would be a slightly thicker version of crepe. Next time I'll just use 1/2 cup of flour and water. It still turned out quite nicely though. The green onions here are so cheap and this is so quick and simple to make. I will definitely be doing this again. Also substituted regular vinegar for rice wine in the dipping sauce. :)

Patricia Ann
mythsarelions.tumblr.com

schmartypants said...

i made this tonight! it was rad!