Get flipping!
Crispy Korean Seafood Pancakes
aka Haemul-Jeon 해물전
This dish is a delicious savoury pancake, filled with seafood & vegetables that is pan fried until golden and crispy! It is served with a lip smacking tangy soy dipping sauce.
This recipe is courtesy of my Korean friend Unee who grew up eating this dish. She introduced me to Korean pancake mix. It can be conveniently purchased at your local asian supermarket. All the hard work has been done as the flour has been perfectly seasoned - so all you need to do is mix with water! Bonus!
It is tasty as it is versatile, as you can substitute the fillings for what you have available or to your preference.
This recipe is courtesy of my Korean friend Unee who grew up eating this dish. She introduced me to Korean pancake mix. It can be conveniently purchased at your local asian supermarket. All the hard work has been done as the flour has been perfectly seasoned - so all you need to do is mix with water! Bonus!
It is tasty as it is versatile, as you can substitute the fillings for what you have available or to your preference.
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 30-40 mins
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 4 (Makes 8 Pancakes)
INGREDIENTS:
Pancake Batter:
- 500g Korean Pancake Flour (*see note)
- 850ml Iced Water
Pancake Filling:
- 16 Large Aussie King Prawns, peeled, deveined and split lengthwise
- 1 x large (300g) Aussie Hawkesbury Squid, cleaned sliced into thin rings
- 1 x Bunch Garlic Chives or Spring Onions/Scallions, cut to fit fry pan
- 2 x medium zucchini, julienned or spiralised
- Vegetable Oil for frying
Unee's Tangy Dipping Sauce:
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed/minced
- 1 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs sesame seeds
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Optional: Chilli flakes - add as much as you can handle!
STEPS:
- To make the dipping sauce - in small bowl, add all sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside.
- To make the batter, in a large mixing bowl add flour & water. Using a whisk mix until lumps are gone & batter is smooth.
- Pre-heat a non stick fry pan on med-high heat. Add a generous amount of oil ensuring it has evenly coated the base of the pan. Working quickly but carefully - evenly scatter in a few sprigs of garlic chives/spring onions, followed by prawn & squid pieces (about 4-6 of each) and finally a small handful of zucchini.
- Using a large ladle or small jug, drizzle batter in a circular motion into the pan as evenly & thinly as possible. Tilt the pan gently to angle the batter so it fills in the gaps.
- Cook for 2-3 mins until the top of the batter is set and the base of the pancake is golden & crispy. Carefully flip the pancake and cook for a further 1-2 mins until golden & crispy and the batter & seafood is cooked through. Transfer pancakes onto a tray with a rack inside or paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Repeat above steps with remaining batter & fillings.
- Cut pancakes into wedges or squares & serve while hot with tangy dipping sauce.
- Enjoy!
LisaDiepCooks Notes:
- Batter: I’ve used Beksul Brand Korean pancake flour and followed the instructions on the packet for the ratio of water to flour. Tip: water must be ice cold. The combination of the cold batter and hot oil results in a super crispy pancake. However it does cause a bit of splatter so I’d suggest dusting off the splatter guard if you have one. Adjust the heat lower as required if the pan & oil gets too hot.
- Seafood: preferably local & fresh. However using frozen is perfectly fine as it is both economical & convenient. You can also use clams, baby octopus or any type of shellfish!
- Methods: there are 2 ways to cook this. First is to chop all the ingredients and mix into the batter before pouring into the pan to fry. This way is great if using frozen seafood as it keeps the batter nice and cold. Second is to lay out the ingredients in the pan and pour the batter over the top. I’ve opted for the latter because I like to evenly spread out the pieces of fresh seafood. It all comes down to ease of preference.
- Garlic Chives or Spring Onions: I’ve used garlic chives in this post, both are equally as delicious!
- Vegetables: I’ve added zucchini, you can also add carrots, cabbage or for a bit of a kick kimchi!
- Fry-pan: a non stick pan is essential! I’ve used a 12 inch (30cm) pan, it yields 8 pancakes.
- Get flipping! Ok, the fail proof way is to slide the pancake onto a plate then flip it onto the pan. Otherwise, if you’re confident using both hands lift the pan and tilt it slightly toward, quickly flick your wrist in an upwards motion towards you in one swift motion flipping the pancake over. You need to commit in order for it to work! The second you hesitate you’ll end up with a crumpled pancake or worse on the floor! NB: this is totally doable, I was able to do it on the second go as I chickened out on the first one.
- Reheating: warm up pancakes in a dry fry pan - no extra oil required. Or heat under the grill.
