Easy Haemul Pa Jeon(해물파전) and Simple Onion Dipping Sauce

Korean seafood green onion pancake, called Haemul Pa Jeon(해물파전), is a popular Korean dish made with green onions and seafood.

The classic Haemul Pa Jeon is made with whole green onions laid out long and flat in the pan. It looks beautiful, but the first time we tried it, half the Pa Jeon fell apart when we flipped it. The long onions slide, the batter runs, and the middle stays raw.

So we cut the green onions into short pieces instead. Nothing else about the flavor changes, and suddenly the Pa Jeon holds together like a real pancake should. This is the version we make on weeknights in our Calgary kitchen, and it is the one we hand to friends who have never made pajeon before.

Ingredients

For the Pa Jeon: 

• Green onions — 300 g
• Frozen or fresh seafood mix — 300 g
• All-purpose flour — 1 cup
• Korean crispy batter mix (tempura mix) — 1 cup
• Ice water — 2 cups
• Cooking oil — enough to coat the pan generously

For the onion dipping sauce:

• Onion — 1/4, sliced thin
• Soy sauce — 2 tablespoons
• Vinegar — 1 tablespoon
• Sugar — 1 teaspoon

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How we make Easy Haemul Pa Jeon

1. Prepare the green onion

Wash the green onion well and drain them.

If the white parts are thick, cut them in half lengthwise.

Then cut all the green onion into pieces about 3~4 cm long.

2. Prepare the seafood

We can use a ready-made mixed seafood package to make this recipe simple.

If the seafood pieces are large, cut them into smaller bite-size pieces.

Make sure excess water is drained before adding the seafood to the batter.

Too much water can make the pancake harder to crisp.

3. Make the batter

Place the flour and Korean crispy batter mix (tempura mix) in a large bowl.

Add the ice-cold water and gently mix.

We do not want to mix the batter too much.

A few small lumps are okay.

Overmixing can make the Pa Jeon less light and crispy, so we mix only until the ingredients come together.

4. Add the seafood and green onion

Add the prepared seafood and green onion to the batter. 

Frozen seafood carries water, so we thaw it and pat it dry with a paper towel. Wet seafood steams the batter from the inside and leaves a soggy center.

Gently mix everything together so the batter lightly coats the ingredient

We do not want a thick layer of batter around the seafood and green onion.

The main ingredients should still be easy to see.

5. Cook the Pancake Slowly

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.

Add enough cooking oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.

Once the pan is hot, add the batter mixture.

Spread it gently into a round pancake.

For a tasty Korean seafood pancake, we like it to be a little thicker than a very thin crepe—about 1 cm thick.

Now comes the important part.

Do not turn the heat too high.

High heat may brown the outside quickly while the inside is still not fully cooked.

We cook the Pa Jeon slowly over medium heat until the bottom becomes golden brown.

When the bottom is firm and golden, carefully flip the pancake.

Add a little more oil around the edges if needed.

Continue cooking until both sides are golden brown and the seafood is fully cooked.

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The onion dipping sauce

While the pan heats, we slice a quarter onion as thin as we can and put it in a small bowl. Then we stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar until the sugar dissolves, and pour it over. That is the whole recipe.

It is sharp, a little sweet, and it does real work at the table. Pajeon is rich — fried in plenty of oil, thick in the middle — and after three or four bites the richness starts to sit heavy. The acid in the pickled onions cuts straight through it and resets your mouth for the next piece. We stopped making pajeon without it.