Vegan Pajeon 파전 (Korean Scallion/Green Onion Pancakes) (2024)

Pajeon is one of family’s favourite dishes and ever since going vegan I wanted to create a vegan version of pajeon since the batter usually contains egg.

It’s a vegan take on the classic Pajeon or Korean Scallion Pancake recipe. There are ready-made pajeon batter mixes that you’ll just need to dilute in water but this recipe is completely from scratch and uses very simple and easily-accessible ingredients.

This is best enjoyed with a good dipping sauce!

WHAT IS PAJEON (파전)?

Pajeon are Korean scallion/green onion pancakes. I grew up enjoying a variety of Korean pancakes; some had just green onions, while some had some carrot to give it a little bit of colour. While some also had seafood mix into the pancakes to make Haemul Pajeon (Seafood Green Onion Pancakes).

One of the staple vegetable for each of them was always lots of green onions or scallions.

VEGETABLES FOR THE PANCAKE

These can also be customised to your liking in terms of vegetables added, but of course the main vegetable used are scallions or green onions. ‘Pa’ means scallion/green onion while ‘jeon’ means pancake.

By adding lots of different types of vegetables such as zucchini, sweet potato, etc, you can make Yachae Jeon (Vegetable Pancakes!)

KING OYSTER MUSHROOMS

For my version, I drew inspiration from Haemul Pajeon which are Seafood and Scallion Pancakes. But of course since this is a vegan version, I used king oyster mushrooms to mimic the texture of squid since it has a rubbery texture.

I also added some extra vegetables such as carrot and onion for that extra crunch. You can also use some chopped cabbage, if you’d like!

Chiles–optional but highly recommended!

I love adding some sliced chiles for that extra heat. I recommend using mild chiles like jalapeños or green chiles.

THE PAJEON BATTER

The batter is a very simple mix of the following:

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour, 130g
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp corn starch or potato starch, 27g
• 1 tsp salt (regular salt or black salt, for the ‘egg’-like taste)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, optional for colour

Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup room temperature water, plus additional 2-4 tbsp water to adjust consistency
• 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

In a large mixing bowl, add in all the dry ingredient. Mix well.

Slowly pour in the water while mixing. Mix until you’ve reached a batter consistency.Add the sesame oil and then mix. If the batter is still too thick, you can add 2-4 tbsp more water.

PREPARATION: 2 OPTIONS

• OPTION 1: BATTER AND VEGETABLES ARE SEPARATE
• OPTION 2: BATTER AND VEGGIES ARE MIXED TOGETHER

We’ll jump to option 2, which is to combine the vegetables and batter together. I find that this yields pancakes with a more even distribution of vegetables throughout since you mix everything into a large bowl.

This option is my preferred way of cooking pajeon when I’m pressed for time since I can just scoop it straight from the bowl to cook in a pan. For the first option I tend to spend more time arranging the vegetables.

So if you’re doing option 2, simply mix all the vegetables into the batter until evenly coated.

It’s really up to your personal preference, but I prefer to cook the veggies first before adding the batter (see the cooking method below).

DIPPING SAUCE

I also made my own dipping sauce to pair with this vegan jeon or pancake.

I highly suggest to repare this before cooking the pancake so you can enjoy the pancakes later on while still hot! You can also make this in advance and just it n the refrigerator for future use.

Here’s what you’ll need for the dipping sauce:

Feel free to adjust the sauce ingredients to your desired taste!

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp cane sugar, feel free to adjust according to desired taste
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp sesame seeds (I love roasted sesame seeds, they’re so much more fragrant!)
• Chili flakes or powder, optional
• Chopped scallions

OTHER KOREAN PANCAKE RECIPES:

I also make kimchi jeon or kimchi pancakes really often at home because my family loves them so much. It’s also a really great way to use up your kimchi and all its juices. You can check out my vegan kimchi pancakes recipe here.

COOKING METHOD: 2 OPTIONS

• OPTION 1: BATTER AND VEGETABLES ARE SEPARATE
• OPTION 2: BATTER AND VEGGIES ARE MIXED TOGETHER

So there are two ways you can make this. You can either mix all the vegetables and mushrooms in the batter and scoop it up into the pan. I use this mix-everything-in-the-bowl technique for my kimchi pancakes.

I’ll be showing the 2 ways on how to prepare and cook this pajeon for this recipe.

My personal preference is option 1, which is to lay out the vegetables on the pan first before scooping over the batter. But when I’m more pressed for time, I opt to just mix all the vegetables with the batter so I can easily scoop them into the pan to cook.

The option 1 technique (batter and vegetables are separate) are what I’ve seen done in a lot of restaurants as well as during my visits to Korea. I also like to get the veggies lightly crisp on the pan first before I add over the batter.

There’s also something I find so rewarding when arranging the green onions and veggies on the pan in a way that these all face the same direction! Haha this is just my preference of course.

OPTION 1: BATTER AND VEGETABLES ARE SEPARATE

So to cook the pajeon: first heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Note that the size of your pancake will depend on the size of your pan!

Add enough oil to add to coat the surface of the pan. Once hot, add in the sliced onions, carrots, scallions, chiles, and mushrooms—basically enough veggies to almost cover the pan. Leave for 1-2 minutes.

Scoop around half of batter into the pan and carefully spread to cover the vegetables. Note that the amount you add will depend on the size of your pan.

Place more veggies on the top of the pancake and carefully press down onto the batter. Lower the heat to medium.

You can cover the pan to allow the inside of the pancake to cook especially if you’re making a thicker pancake. Cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat.

Once the sides start to dry up, carefully scrape the sides and the underneath of the pancake with a spatula to ensure it hasn’t stuck to the pan.

Once it’s lightly brown underneath, carefully flip the pancake with a spatula. You can also opt to toast it a bit more if you really like your pancakes crispy.

Cook the other side until golden brown and crisp. Repeat this for the rest of the batter.

Slice your pancakes and then enjoy with some dipping sauce! I also find it a lot easier to cut the pancakes using a pair of scissors.

OPTION 2: BATTER AND VEGETABLES ARE MIXED TOGETHER.

The advantage to mixing the vegetables and batter together, I find, is that the vegetables are more evenly distributed throughout the pancake.

Just simply follow the same steps for this second option.

Heat a pan with oil over medium heat.

Then once the pan is hot, scoop a generous amount of the batter & veggie mix. Spread it evenly on the pan.

Cover the pan to allow the pancake to cook, especially if your pancake is quite thick.

Cook both sides until brown and crisp to your liking.

Afterwards, slice the pancakes however way you’d like then enjoy with the dipping sauce.

You’ll find the recipe for this pajeon below.

If you try out this recipe, I’d appreciate if you leave a rating or simply click on the stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ on my recipe card!

Other Korean Vegan Recipes you might like:

• Sundubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)
• Kimchi Noodle Soup with Dumplings
• Kimchi Noodle Stir-Fry
• Jjajangmyeon
• Kimchi Pancakes or Kimchi Jeon

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