Pajeon – Korean Spring Onions Pancake

Pajeon (파전) is Korean spring onions (pa) pancake (jeon). I’ve been meaning to make this pancake since I had a go with Haemul Pajeon. The recipe for this pajeon is adapted from my favorite Korean food blogger Maangchi. It’s super easy and quick. Wait till I get my hands on some good kimchi and you bet I’ll be making some kimchi jeon.

Can something so simple as spring onions, flour and water be so delicious? You bet!
There’s a secret ingredient though.


Maangchi’s recipe is for 1 serving. Because I’m preparing 4 servings, I uses 20 stalks of spring onions. Rinse them carefully and cut into 5″ long. Then divide into 4 equal portions.

To make batter…

Mix flour, water, doenjang and sugar to a smooth batter. The batter ingredient is for 1 pancake. I mix the batter 4 times individually for 4 servings.

Do you notice a special ingredient in this batter? Oh yeah, doenjang! (Korean fermented soybean paste; my favorite!) Now why on earth did I not think of that before? Maangchi you’re a genius!!!

Now heat up a non-stick pan and add oil.

Place spring onions on the pan parallel to each other.

Pour the batter on the spring onions. Cook both sides until crispy and golden brown. Serve hot with sauce.

The addition of doenjang in the batter make this a saliva-drooling pancake. The sauce is wonderful too; pair really well with the pancake. All I can say is this is THE perfect Korean pancake. Full of wow and yums.

One thing I regretted though is that some of my spring onions were quite ‘matured’ hence they were rather chewy. So make sure you use young spring onions or as Maangchi suggested wild spring onions.

Pajeon
Adapted from Maangchi.com
Makes 1 piece

Note: This recipe makes 1 piece. To serve 4 persons, I mix the batter 4 times individually. It’s very easy. For the spring onions, I use 20 which I cut into 5″ long and divide into 4 equal portions.

Pancake
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon soybean paste (doenjang)
1/2 teaspoon sugar

5 spring onions, rinsed and cut into 5″ long
Vegetable oil

Sauce
4-6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
chopped onion
chopped green or red chili
1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds

Method:
To prepare pancakes:
1. In a bowl combine flour, water, soybean paste and sugar. Mix batter until smooth.
2. Heat up a pan and add about 3 tablespoons vegetable oil to the pan.
3. Place spring onions on the pan horizontally in the shape of a rectangle/square.
4. Pour batter on the spring onions. During cooking, pat and press the pancake lightly.
5. While the pancake is being cooked, keep patting it, pressing it slightly, and keeping it in a nice shape with your spatula.
6. When the bottom has turns crispy and golden, flip it over.
7. Cook the other side until golden and plate. Serve warm with sauce.

To prepare sauce:
1. Mix the sauce ingredients in bowl.