Donggeurangttaeng (Korean Pan-Fried Meat Patties)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth for squeezing tofu
• •Wide mixing bowl
• •Two shallow dishes for flour and egg
• •Wide nonstick or well-seasoned skillet
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Squeeze the tofu

   Wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze until it feels crumbly and no longer weeps water, then press it under a plate for 10 minutes while you chop the vegetables. You should have about 140g squeezed tofu left. This number matters: too much water loosens the meat mixture, and loose patties crack in the pan.

   If your tofu is soft or wet, change the towel and squeeze again. This is the corner you cannot cut.
2. 2

   Chop the vegetables

   Mince the onion, carrot, and scallions very fine, about the size of short-grain rice. Large pieces push the meat apart as it cooks. If the onion is juicy, press it in a small sieve or squeeze it in your hand so it does not water down the mixture.

3. 3

   Mix the filling

   In a wide bowl, combine the pork, beef, squeezed tofu, onion, carrot, scallions, garlic, 1 egg, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, and pepper. Mix with your hand for 2 full minutes, folding and pressing until the mixture turns sticky and holds together when pinched. That stickiness is the protein binding; without it, the patty is only chopped things pretending to be one dish.

4. 4

   Test the seasoning

   Fry one teaspoon of the mixture in a small pan and taste it. It should be savory and gentle, with the tofu and meat still clear. Add up to 1/4 teaspoon more salt only if it tastes flat. Do not guess with raw ground meat, and do not season until it tastes salty now, because the flour and egg coating will soften the edges.

5. 5

   Shape the coins

   Lightly oil your palms. Shape the mixture into 22 to 24 patties, each about 4 cm wide and 1 cm thick. Flatten the center just a little with your thumb, because meat swells as it cooks. Lay them on a tray in one layer and chill for 15 minutes if your kitchen is warm or the mixture feels soft.

6. 6

   Coat for frying

   Put the flour in a shallow dish and the beaten eggs with a pinch of salt in another. Dust each patty lightly in flour, pat off the excess, then dip it in egg. The flour should be a thin veil, not a winter coat. Too much flour makes a pale shell that separates from the meat.

7. 7

   Pan-fry gently

   Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wide nonstick or well-seasoned skillet over medium-low heat. Add patties in a single layer, leaving space between them. Fry 3 to 4 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second, until golden with browned edges and cooked through to 71 C or 160 F in the center. Keep the heat moderate; egg browns fast, and ground meat needs time.

   Wipe out dark egg bits between batches and add fresh oil as needed. Old browned egg makes the next batch taste tired.
8. 8

   Drain and serve

   Move the patties to a rack or paper-lined tray for 2 minutes so the coating settles. Serve warm or at room temperature with the dipping sauce. For a holiday table, stack them only after they cool slightly; hot jeon piled too soon softens from its own trapped moisture.

Chef Tips

• •A half pork, half beef mixture tastes good, but I prefer a little more pork than beef here. Pork keeps the patty tender, beef gives it a deeper flavor, and tofu keeps it from feeling heavy.
• •Do not use extra-lean meat. A little fat is what keeps donggeurangttaeng soft after it cools, which matters because holiday jeon is often eaten at room temperature.
• •The safe shortcut is using a food processor for the carrot and onion, but pulse, do not puree. Wet vegetable paste makes the same trouble as wet tofu.
• •For children, leave the dipping sauce mild. For adults, add a few drops of vinegar and a thin slice of cheongyang chili to the sauce, not to the meat, so the patty still tastes like itself.
• •Leftovers keep well because this is a holiday dish built for trays. Reheat in a dry skillet over low heat until the coating wakes up again. A microwave warms it, but it softens the egg.

Advance Preparation

• •The meat mixture can be mixed and shaped up to 1 day ahead. Cover the patties tightly and refrigerate in a single layer, then flour and egg them just before frying.
• •Cooked donggeurangttaeng can be refrigerated for 3 days. Reheat in a lightly oiled skillet over medium-low heat, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
• •For freezing, cook the patties first, cool completely, then freeze in layers separated by parchment. Reheat from frozen in a covered skillet over low heat, then uncover briefly to dry the egg coating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 43g)