Korean Scallion Pancakes (Pajeon)

An easy Korean scallion pancake that's both chewy and crispy that's quick to whip up for a weeknight dinner or served as a delicious side dish to a full Korean meal.

If you're craving a savory scallion pancake, there's no need to wait for your dough to rise and tirelessly working to roll out layers like you would with a Chinese scallion pancake. You can get just as equally delicious results and add more variety with Korean scallion pancakes (pajeon).

If you're looking to finish up a batch of old kimchi, you can also try your hand at these Kimchi Pancakes.

What is pajeon?

Pajeon is a Korean pancake - with the primary ingredients being scallions and a pancake mix. While scallions make up the foundation, these Korean scallion pancakes are easy to customize - with many restaurants also serving up haemul pajeon (seafood scallion pancake) for added protein.

Pajeon is usually served as a side dish or appetizer, but it's hearty enough to be its own meal. Make a dipping sauce with soy sauce, rice vinegar, Korean chili flakes, sesame seeds, and sesame oil to round out the flavors!

Ingredients

Ingredients for this recipe are extremely simple - most can be found in your pantry (flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, salt, and sugar). You can find green onions at most grocery stores. These tend to be wider, so cut off the white ends/roots and slice these lengthwise.

• Green onions
• All-purpose flour
• Ice cold water
• Cornstarch
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Sugar

Dipping sauce:

• Soy sauce
• Rice vinegar
• Sesame oil
• Sesame seeds
• Korean chili powder (optional if you'd like some spice)

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

1. Wash and pat scallions dry. You don't want to add wet scallions into the batter! Cut off the roots and slice the scallions in half.
2. To avoid having huge stalks of scallion in the pancake, slice each stalk in half length-wise.

3. Mix batter ingredients. Add the water slowly and mix with a chopstick or spatula until the consistency of the batter is just slightly thinner than regular pancake mix.

4. Add scallions to the batter. Use your hands to coat the scallions.

5. Heat up a pan on high heat, once hot, add oil and be generous to avoid pancake from sticking to the pan.

6. Turn heat to medium and add the scallions with half batch of the batter. Use a spatula to evenly spread out the scallions and ensure each stalk is parallel to one another.

7. Add the remaining batter evenly over the top and use it fill in any gaps between the scallions. Cook the bottom until golden and crispy. Use a flat spatula to press down on the pancake every now and then to help crisp up the bottom. This will take about 5 minutes.

8. Use a spatula to flip the pancake over and cook the other side. You can add a little more oil to the edges to keep the edges crisp and avoid the other side from burning.

9. Make dipping sauce by mixing soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, chili powder, and sliced onions (optional).

10. Remove pancake from pan and cut into square slices. Serve with dipping sauce.

Variations

• More vegetables - If you're looking to add more vegetables, julienne carrots and zucchini and add them to the batter.
• More protein - To add more protein to the dish, whip up an egg and add it to the top of the batter in step 7.
• Fluffier mix - For a fluffier pancake, replace ⅓ of the all-purpose flour with rice flour. This will give the pancake batter an element of airiness.

Storage

Korean scallion pancakes tend not to store as well since they'll become soggy in the fridge. However, if you'd like to keep it for the next day, heat the pancake back up on the pan to give it a little extra crisp.

FAQ

Pairing

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📖 Recipe

Print Pin

5 from 45 votes

Korean Scallion Pancakes (Pajeon)

An easy Korean scallion pancake that's both chewy and crispy that's quick to whip up for a weeknight dinner or served as a delicious side dish to a full Korean meal.

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Korean

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Julia

Ingredients

• 5 stalks scallions

Pancake Batter

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ice cold water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Dipping Sauce

• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon Korean chili pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

• Wash and pat scallions dry. You don't want to add wet scallions into the batter! Cut off the roots and slice the scallions in half. To avoid having huge stalks of scallion in the pancake, slice each stalk in half length-wise.
• Mix batter ingredients. Add the water slowly and mix with a chopstick or spatula until the consistency of the batter is just slightly thinner than regular pancake mix.
• Add scallions to the batter. Use your hands to coat the scallions.
• Heat up a pan on high heat, once hot, add oil and be generous to avoid pancake from sticking to the pan.
• Turn heat to medium and add the scallions with half batch of the batter. Use a spatula to evenly spread out the scallions and ensure each stalk is parallel to one another.
• Add the remaining batter evenly over the top and use it fill in any gaps between the scallions. Cook the bottom until golden and crispy. Use a flat spatula to press down on the pancake every now and then to help crisp up the bottom. This will take about 5 minutes.
• Use a spatula to flip the pancake over and cook the other side. You can add a little more oil to the edges to keep the edges crisp and avoid the other side from burning.
• Make dipping sauce by mixing soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and Korean chili flakes (optional).
• Remove pancake from pan and cut into square slices. Serve with dipping sauce.