When It Rains, It’s Time for Jeon

 

For some reason, Koreans crave jeon on rainy days. Perhaps it’s because the sound of rain resembles the sound of making jeon. Jeon refers to battered ingredients that are almost deep-fried into pancakes. There are so many kinds of jeon, made of kimchi, potatoes, seafood and chives. Shall we learn more about jeon, Koreans’ favorite dish on rainy days?

First, let’s talk about kimchijeon and gamjajeon (potato jeon). Kimchijeon is arguably the most popular jeon among Koreans. It’s straightforward to make: chop some kimchi, mix it in a batter made of buchimgaru (special flour mix for jeon) and eggs, and cook it on a frying pan. The egg in the batter gives it a smoother texture. You can add other ingredients like onions or squid.

To make gamjajeon, peel as many potatoes as you’d like and blend them. Sift the liquid and put it aside, and collect just the potato part. After a while, the starch will sit at the bottom of that liquid. Drain the liquid and mix that starch with the ground potatoes. Season with salt and fry the mixture into pancakes. Once they brown nicely, voila, it’s done. 

Next, haemulpajeon is made of seafood, such as squid, shrimp, manila clams, and oysters, mixed with buchimgaru. It’s also delicious to add green onions that give a crispy texture to it. Wash and chop green onions to 5cm pieces, then peel and devein the shrimp. Lastly, clean and prepare the squid, chop it into bite-sizes, then mix them with other seafood. Add buchimgaru, salt, and water, mix them well, and cook the batter on a frying pan.

Koreans dip their jeon in a sauce, typically made of soy sauce, vinegar, gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes), and chopped cheongyang peppers. The sauce helps tone down the greasy jeon and complements the flavor nicely.

On the next rainy day, why don’t try and make some jeon with the sound of raindrops?

Nolbu Jeon