Culinary Explorer
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Haemul-pajeon (해물파전, Seafood Scallion Pancake)
Created by Chef Jeong-sun
A rainy-day scallion pancake loaded with squid, shrimp, and clams, fried crisp at the edges and tender inside, then finished with egg and a sharp soy vinegar dipping sauce.
Haemul-pajeon is not a seafood omelet with scallions hiding in it. The scallions are the spine, long and green, and the seafood rides in the batter around them. When rain starts against the window, Korean tables think of pajeon and makgeolli, but the pan does not care about romance. It asks for dry seafood, cold batter, enough oil, and patience before you flip.
Master Seong-nyeo made me blot squid until the towel stayed nearly clean. I thought she was being severe. She was saving the pancake. Wet seafood turns the batter loose, the center heavy, and the bottom pale before you get a chance to do it properly. Notebook 41 says: 340 grams seafood to about 180 grams scallion for two large pancakes. More than that and you are not being generous, you are making the cook fight the pan.
Tonight you will cut the scallions to fit the skillet, split the thick whites, mix the batter only until it comes together, and cook with more oil than a timid hand wants. The egg goes over the top near the end, not into the batter at the beginning, so it sets in golden patches and lets the seafood still read as itself. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, because the first good rainy-day pancake should not be the last one you can repeat.
Ingredients
thin scallions
Quantity
12 to 14, about 180g
roots trimmed, cut to fit a 10-inch skillet, thick whites split lengthwise
cleaned squid
Quantity
120g
cut into 1/4-inch rings or 2-inch strips
shrimp
Quantity
120g
peeled, deveined, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| thin scallionsroots trimmed, cut to fit a 10-inch skillet, thick whites split lengthwise | 12 to 14, about 180g |
| cleaned squidcut into 1/4-inch rings or 2-inch strips | 120g |
| shrimppeeled, deveined, cut into 1/2-inch pieces | 120g |
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