Pajeon

A thin batter poured over whole spring onions in a pan hotter and shallower-filled than feels right, so the edges go lacy and crisp.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg. Vegetarian only if you leave out the optional shellfish.

Ingredients

• 120 g plain flour
• 2 tablespoons rice flour or cornflour
• 200 ml ice-cold water
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large bunches spring onions, trimmed to pan length
• 100 g prawns or squid, chopped, optional
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1 egg, extra, for the top

Method

1. THE PAN IS HOTTER AND THE BATTER THINNER THAN FEELS RIGHT. Both, together. A thin batter in a very hot pan with a generous slick of oil spreads to the edges and fries rather than steams, and the rim goes lacy and brittle. A thick batter at a moderate heat gives a soft, bready pancake -- which is what most attempts produce, and it is a different and much duller thing. The batter should pour like single cream, not drop like a spoonful.
2. THE WATER IS ICE-COLD AND THE BATTER IS BARELY MIXED. Cold and under-mixed means less gluten developed, which is what keeps it crisp rather than chewy. A few lumps are correct. Rice flour or cornflour in place of some of the plain flour does the same job.
3. THE SPRING ONIONS GO IN WHOLE AND LIE IN ONE DIRECTION, with the batter poured OVER them rather than them being stirred into it. The pancake is mostly onion held together by a little batter, not batter with onion in it, and laid in one direction it tears into strips cleanly.
4. AN EGG IS BROKEN OVER THE TOP AND SPREAD, just before turning. It sets into the surface, browns in patches and holds the whole thing together.
5. AND IT IS PRESSED DOWN AND LEFT ALONE. A spatula flat on it for the first minute keeps it in contact with the pan; poking and lifting to check loses the crust.
6. Flour, rice flour and salt whisked with the ice-cold water and the egg to a thin batter. BARELY MIXED -- lumps are fine. Rested 10 minutes in the fridge.
7. Spring onions trimmed so they fit the pan, and halved lengthways if thick.
8. A heavy frying pan heated until a drop of batter sizzles immediately. Half the oil in.
9. The spring onions laid in the pan ALL IN ONE DIRECTION, packed close.
10. The batter poured evenly OVER them, just enough to hold them together. The prawns scattered on if using.
11. Pressed flat with a spatula and cooked 3 to 4 minutes WITHOUT MOVING IT, until the edges are brown and crisp and the base lifts in one piece.
12. The extra egg broken over the top and spread thin with the back of a spoon.
13. The remaining oil poured round the edge, the pancake flipped in one movement, and cooked 2 to 3 minutes more.
14. Slid onto a board, cut in squares with scissors, and eaten at once with a dip of soy sauce, rice vinegar and gochugaru.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes