Pancakes and Snacks

Korean Cookery

Chapter 8 · Pancakes, Fried Food and Street Snacks

Skill goal
Pan-fry a crisp scallion pancake with a dipping sauce, simmer rice cakes in a gochujang sauce, and roll a gimbap.

Shopping list for this chapter

How this chapter was checked The descriptions come from Wikipedia's articles on jeon (lead and types), pajeon (lead, preparation, type, Dongnae), tteokbokki (lead, history, varieties) and gimbap (lead, ingredients and preparation). None of the four gives quantities or cooking times; the gimbap article gives only the roll's width, so every weight, volume and time below is my own untested starting point; I cannot cook. The jeon article is tagged as needing more citations and has no section on kimchi pancakes or dipping sauce, so those parts are mine or taken from the pajeon article. The articles do not agree on the pajeon batter. Safety notes are general advice of mine.

The basics

Jeon

The jeon article says: "Almost all jeons are seasoned, coated with wheat flour and egg wash, and then pan-fried." Jeon can be an appetiser, a banchan or a drinking snack (anju). Its types include pajeon (scallions; haemul-pajeon with seafood), gamja-jeon (shredded potato), hobak-jeon (Korean courgette), yukjeon (usually pan-fried beef slices), saengseon-jeon (white fish), guljeon (oysters) and hwajeon (a sweet one with edible flowers and often honey). It lists bindaetteok (mung bean pancake) as a related dish but does not describe it. The article has nothing on kimchi pancakes.

Pajeon

The pajeon article says the name comes from pa, scallion, and the pancake is made by laying scallions side by side on a hot, oiled pan, ladling batter over them, and flipping "once the bottom holds together and turns golden brown". It is usually served with a "slightly sweet dipping sauce" called cho ganjang, typically soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and other seasonings. It lists beef, pork, kimchi, shellfish and other seafood as the usual additions, and oysters, shrimp, squid and clams for haemul-pajeon. The article gives two batters that do not agree: eggs, wheat flour, rice flour and scallions in one passage, and wheat flour, water, doenjang and sugar in another; the Dongnae version uses rice and glutinous rice flour, eggs and gochujang. I do not choose between them. The Dongnae origin is told as a legend ("legend says the people of Dongnae threw scallions" during a battle).

Tteokbokki

The tteokbokki article describes it as "Korean food made from small-sized garae-tteok (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes)", seasoned with gochujang, "often paired with eomuk (fish cakes), boiled eggs, and scallions". A less common non-spicy soy sauce version is gungjung-tteokbokki. It describes a dry gireum style (soft tteok sticks seasoned with the sauce and stir-fried in oil) and a soupy gungmul style made with a kelp-and-anchovy stock. It says wheat-flour cakes became "a common alternative" from the 1950s. The spicy version is "believed first appeared in 1953" from one restaurant anecdote, and the earliest recorded version is in a 19th-century cookbook under an archaic spelling. It is in the category of articles lacking reliable references, and the page says North Korea banned its sale in restaurants in 2024.

Gimbap

The gimbap article calls it "a Korean dish made from bap (cooked rice), vegetables, and optionally, cooked seafood or meat rolled in gim". The rice is "lightly seasoned with salt and sesame oil"; the gim is toasted over low heat; vegetables and meat are seasoned and stir-fried or pan-fried; a thin layer of rice goes on the gim on a bamboo roller (gimbal), the fillings go on the rice, and the roll is "typically 3–4 centimetres (1.2–1.6 in) in diameter" before being sliced. Fillings it lists: pickled yellow radish, egg strips, kimchi, bulgogi, spinach and carrot. The line that brown, black or other grains may be used is tagged "citation needed".

Hot oil, sticky rice cakes and raw filling
Hot oil: fry pancakes in a shallow layer; never leave the pan, and flip away from you.
Rice cakes: tteok is dense and chewy and hot sauce sticks to skin and mouth; let it cool and cut large pieces down (general advice, mine).
Gimbap fillings: cook egg, meat and vegetables fully before rolling and keep gimbap cold if not eaten within a couple of hours; do not take it on a long journey in warm weather (general advice, mine).
Allergens: wheat flour, egg, soy, sesame, fish (eomuk, anchovy), shellfish (seafood pajeon).

Try it

Level 2 · Pancake

Pajeon with cho ganjang

25 minutes2 portionspan-frying a batter pancake

Because the article gives two batters, I use a plain one: flour, a little rice flour, egg and water, with scallions laid in first as the article describes. The amounts are mine. Kimchi pancake is the same batter with chopped kimchi instead of scallions; the articles do not describe it, so that is my variation.

Ingredients (2 portions)

  • 6-8 spring onions, left whole or cut to the pan's length
  • 100 g plain flour
  • 2 tbsp rice flour (or more plain flour)
  • 1 egg
  • 150 ml cold water
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil

Cho ganjang (dipping sauce)

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tsp sugar, and a pinch of gochugaru (optional)
  1. Stir the sauce ingredients together until the sugar dissolves. Taste: adjust vinegar and sugar.
  2. Whisk the flours, egg, water and salt into a smooth batter, about as thick as double cream (mine).
  3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wide non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Lay the spring onions side by side, then pour the batter over so it covers them.
  4. Fry 3 to 4 minutes, until the underside is golden and holds together (the article's sign), then flip once. Add the rest of the oil around the edge, press gently, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more until crisp.
  5. Cut into squares and serve hot with the dipping sauce.
Level 2 · Street snack

Tteokbokki, soupy style

25 minutes2 portionssimmering rice cakes in sauce

The soupy style uses a stock; the article names kelp and anchovy. The sauce amounts are mine. Cylinder rice cakes are sold refrigerated or frozen at Asian shops; the packet may tell you to soak them first, which I follow.

Ingredients (2 portions)

  • 300 g cylinder rice cakes (garae-tteok)
  • 300 ml water or anchovy stock
  • 2 tbsp gochujang
  • 1 tsp gochugaru
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs
  • 100 g fish cakes (eomuk), sliced (optional)
  • 2 spring onions, cut in 3 cm lengths
  1. If the rice cakes are hard or frozen, soak in warm water for 10 to 20 minutes as the packet says (mine).
  2. Mix the water, gochujang, gochugaru, sugar and soy sauce in a pan and bring to the boil.
  3. Add the rice cakes and fish cakes and simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the rice cakes are soft and the sauce has thickened and clings.
  4. Add the eggs and spring onions for the last 2 minutes. Taste and adjust sweet and hot. Let it cool a few minutes before eating.
Level 3 · Rolling

Gimbap

45 minutes2 rolls, about 16 slicescooking fillings and rolling tightly

This follows the article: rice lightly seasoned with salt and sesame oil, toasted gim, cooked fillings, a thin layer of rice, rolled and sliced. A bamboo sushi mat stands in for the gimbal. Amounts are mine.

Ingredients (2 rolls)

  • 2 cups cooked short-grain rice (Chapter 2), cooled to warm
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, with a pinch of salt
  • 2 sheets of gim (nori)
  • 2 eggs, beaten and fried as a thin omelette, cut into strips
  • 1 carrot, matchsticks, stir-fried 2 minutes
  • 100 g spinach, blanched and seasoned as in Chapter 3
  • 100 g cooked bulgogi or other cooked filling (optional)
  • 1 strips of pickled yellow radish (optional)
  1. Mix the rice with the sesame oil and salt.
  2. Toast each gim sheet briefly over low heat in a dry pan, a few seconds a side (the article toasts over low heat).
  3. Lay a gim sheet, shiny side down, on the mat. Spread a thin layer of rice over it, leaving 2 cm at the far edge. Wet your fingers to stop sticking.
  4. Lay fillings in a line across the middle, in a thin stack. Roll tightly from the near edge, pressing as you go, to a roll about 3 to 4 cm across (the article's width).
  5. Brush the top with a few drops of sesame oil. Slice with a sharp wet knife into 2 cm slices.

Experiments

Experiment 1 · The two batters
The pajeon article gives two different batters. Make one with the plain flour, rice flour and egg batter above, and one with flour, water and a small spoon of doenjang and sugar. Compare crispness, colour and taste.
Experiment 2 · Sauce
Cook the tteokbokki with the gochujang amount at 1, 2 and 3 tbsp for the same water. Which balance of heat and sweetness do you prefer?

Challenges

Challenge 1

Describe jeon from the jeon and pajeon articles, name three kinds, and state where the pajeon article contradicts itself.

→ Solution
Challenge 2

Make the pajeon and tteokbokki, and write a note on texture, heat and what you would change. Include the batter thickness and how long the underside took to set.

→ Solution
Challenge 3

Plan a snack table for a few guests with pajeon, tteokbokki and gimbap: what can be made ahead, what must be served hot, and what to do with the leftovers.

→ Solution
Gaps in what I read
No article gives amounts or times. The jeon article has no kimchijeon and no dipping sauce; the pajeon article's batters disagree. The tteokbokki article gives no method and is in a category for articles lacking reliable references. I did not read the history or frozen-gimbap sections of the gimbap article, nor bindaetteok, hotteok, twigim (fried food) or sundae, which the chapter title hints at. Twigim is not covered because I did not read an article on it. I cannot tell you where to buy rice cakes or fish cakes in the UK.

Quick Reference

  • Jeon: seasoned, coated with wheat flour and egg, pan-fried
  • Pajeon: scallions laid in the hot oiled pan, batter over, flip when golden; cho ganjang dip
  • Tteokbokki: cylinder rice cakes in gochujang sauce, with fish cakes, eggs and scallions
  • Gimbap: rice with salt and sesame oil, toasted gim, cooked fillings, 3-4 cm roll
  • Mine, untested: all amounts, times and the pancake batter

Next chapter: Sauces, Pastes and Sweet Things.