Korean · Lunch or dinner

Haemul Pajeon

Scallion-stuffed seafood pancake, shrimp, squid and soy-vinegar dip.

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Haemul Pajeon, plated, photographed from above.
Prep
20 min
Cook
20 min
Makes
4 servings
Skill
Comfortable
Heat
Mild, adjustable
Pescatarian Halal Contains shellfish Contains fish Contains gluten Contains soy Contains sesame Contains eggs
Maui says

Lay the scallions DOWN FIRST and pour batter over - that's pajeon. Mix scallions into the batter and you get a flatter, less structured pancake. The scallion layer is the architecture.

Ingredients

Everything below makes 4 servings.

  • 4 ozpeeled raw shrimproughly chopped
  • 4 ozcleaned squid bodiescut into 1/2-inch rings
  • 10scallionstrimmed to skillet length
  • ¾ cupall-purpose flour
  • ¼ cuprice flourfor extra crisp
  • 1large eggbeaten
  • 1 cupanchovy-dashima stockor cold water as a fallback
  • 4 tbspneutral oil
  • ½ tspkosher salt
  • 3 tbspsoy saucefor dip
  • 1½ tbsprice vinegarfor dip
  • ½ tspgochugaru (Korean chile flakes)for dip
  • 1 tsptoasted sesame oilfor dip
  • 1garlic clovesgrated, for dip
  • 1 tsptoasted sesame seedsfor dip

In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.

Nutrition

Per serving, as written.

  • 378calories
  • 19gprotein
  • 35gcarbs
  • 19gfat

Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.

Instructions

Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.

Before you start
  1. Chop shrimp and ring the squid. Trim scallions to fit skillet length.
  2. Whisk soy and rice vinegar and gochugaru and sesame oil and garlic and sesame seeds for dip.
  3. Whisk AP flour and rice flour and salt and anchovy-dashima stock and beaten egg into a smooth batter (consistency of thick crepe).
1

Lay scallions

Heat neutral oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high. Lay HALF the scallions parallel in the pan, packed tight, all the same direction. This is the structural backbone of the pancake.

1 min · hands on
2

Add batter and seafood

Pour HALF the batter over the scallions, spreading to cover. Scatter HALF the chopped shrimp and squid over the top, pressing in. Fry 4-5 min UNDISTURBED until bottom is deep golden and edges audibly crisp.

5 min · hands on
3

Flip and finish

Flip carefully (slide onto plate, invert back into pan if needed). Drizzle more oil around edges. Fry 3-4 min more - seafood cooks through and second side crisps. Slide onto board. Repeat for second pancake with remaining oil and batter and seafood and scallions.

10 min · hands on
4

Plate

Cut into wedges with kitchen shears. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

1 min · hands on

Make it yours

Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.

Instead of shrimp and squid mix Shrimp only

Use all shrimp (6 oz total) - easier to source.

Instead of shrimp and squid mix Shrimp and mussel and squid

Add 4 oz cleaned mussels alongside shrimp and squid. Adds about 5 minutes.

Gluten free Rice flour for all-purpose flour, tamari for soy sauce

What keeps

Seafood pancake is best fresh - seafood texture suffers on reheat. Prep batter and sauce ahead; fry to order.

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