Pajeon, Korea’s ubiquitous scallion pancake, strikes that ideal balance between pragmatism and sheer pleasure. One of the simplest and most popular forms of jeon, a broader term for battered and pan-fried foods, it’s cheap and quick to make by mixing up a flour-and-water-based batter, loading it up with scallions, and pan-frying it into one big round. The filling-to-batter ratio is high, and the scallions are typically cut into lengths, so the effect is a nest of verdant stalks glued together by a viscous batter. As it sizzles in a well-oiled skillet, the pancake crisps and browns and the interior sets up soft and dense, with—as Beverly Kim, chef and co-owner of Parachute, an acclaimed Korean American restaurant in Chicago, described—“mochi-like” chew. It’s a no-fuss, substantial snack that’s best eaten right off the pan with a soy sauce–based dipping sauce and a group of your nearest and dearest.
“It’s very comforting food, and it can be for any occasion,” said Nanam Myszka, a Seoul native who co-owns Epiphany Farms Hospitality Group in Bloomington, Illinois. Pajeon can be celebratory fare for festive occasions such as weddings or Chuseok, the annual autumn harvest festival, or a clean-out-the-fridge preparation that uses up scallions and any other vegetables, meat or seafood, or kimchi. Most delightfully, it’s a popular snack to make on rainy days. (For more information, see “Pajeon: Recipe for a Rainy Day.”)
Given how regularly Koreans eat pajeon, many households stock buchim garu, a just-add-water seasoned pancake mix that’s widely sold in Korean markets. Some cooks combine that with twigim garu, a mix that also requires nothing but water and is primarily used to coat food for frying (its relatively high proportion of pure starch helps it boost crispness). But both products contain mostly pantry ingredients (flours, starch, leaveners), so plenty of cooks make their own batter. That route appealed to me: I was a chemist before I was a cook, so sorting out formulas is right up my alley. Plus, I don’t usually have the commercial stuff on hand but wanted the option to whip up pajeon any time the mood (or the occasion, or the weather) strikes.
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