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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Korean Vegetable Pancake (Leeks)



This vegetable pancake is called Boochoo Juhn or Boochu Jeon using leeks or Chinese Nira. This is a vegan dish and I love how fresh this tastes. This is based on a variety of vegetables including zucchini, red peppers, onions, but most importantly, with leeks. Although I believe the word leek is to generally describe this type of vegetable, the tag on the vegetable said “Chinese Nira.” In Korean, this is called Boochu but I never knew it had another term other than leeks.
1. Wash the leeks thoroughly and chop them in one inch sizes.




2. Thinly slice zucchini, onion, and red peppers and add on a dish together.

3. For preparing the batter, you need flour, buchim mix (makes the dough more chewy), and water.  If you this as a vegetarian dish instead of vegan, you can add an egg but it’s really not necessary.  This tastes so good as is.  Also remember to sift the flour as it makes the better texture of the dough overall. The proportion of water to the mix would be around 5:2 ratio, meaning it’s thick.


Add a spoonful of garlic to the mix.

Add the vegetables to the batter. Below is how thick the mixture should be. Notice there is barely no runny liquid.

4. Now is the time to cook and first you need to oil your pan.

5. Add the mixture onto the pan.

6. Once one side is cooked for 3-4 minutes, use a large spatula and flip it to the other side and press down to evenly flatten the pancake.

7. Flip again one more time back to the original side, which is the better looking side and just slide it onto your plate so this side will display on top of your plate.

Man, I'm watering in my mouth again thinking about this food. Enjoy!

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love that your current top post is exactly what I was searching for. This is after my pitiful attempt to remember something that I haven't done in many years. Apparently, I even forgot that it's not made with traditional chives (bad start). (But they aren't really traditional leeks either. I guess I'll have to beg some plants off my father before trying again.) I've never used the mix before; can you tell me what's in it or if it's a substitute for egg?

For me, these pancakes are strongly tied to summer. (Maybe for you too and that's why you've just posted this?) So,thanks for the help, I'll definitely do better next time.

P.S. -egg is vegan, +egg is vegetarian (in general)

Pete said...

Hi Jane,
Thank you for your comment. I really like this pancake as well. To answer your question, I did some internet research to find an exact English term for it. You're right that the chive looking vegetables which I called leeks are neither traditional leeks nor traditional chives/green onions. It's called "Allium tuberosum". It's a scientific botany term and is also commonly referred to it as "garlic chives". I remember when I purchased it from a Korean market, the label had a different name on it also which I don't remember now. It's really confusing how it doesn't have a common English name for it. But in Korean it's called boochoo and that is a very common term specifically referring to this vege.

In Boochim mix, I believe there is a mix of flour, corn powder, and corn starch. Some brands have potato powder instead. This mix adds more flavor to the pancake otherwise made with entirely white flour. And this is not a substitute for egg. The reason why I did not use egg in this one is because while it tastes good, when you leave it cold for a while and heat it up when you eat the leftovers, it gives you not so fresh (somewhat fishy) flavor. I didn't mind that or couldn't really tell with other seafood pancakes but with this one which is all vege, I decided not to disturb the freshness of the flavor when I had to reheat it. Or maybe it's just my excuse for being lazy. If I pan fried it every time I wanted to eat, it wouldn't even be an issue.

I love these pancakes all seasons! But I do think it's especially good in the summer. Maybe veges all taste better during summer or it's just my enhanced appetite during summer haha.

Good luck!

p.s. Thanks for your tip on the egg and vegetarian! I guess I can hang being a vegetarian after all given that I have my eggs!

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for this recipe. It's remember me a lunch took near Seoraksan.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am going through your recipes again, searching for ideas on what to cook for my vegan friend. It is so hard to cook for vegans, since you can't use stuff like eggs and cheese. This pancake seems like a good idea. I'm sure it tastes good too.:D

Pete said...

Yeah this pancake was pretty good. I normally need my meat and protein but that time, I had no problem going vegan. Let me know how it turned out.

Anonymous said...

Hello, it's me again. I have a question. Can i use ordinary chives for this pancake? Can't find garlic chives! There is seriously something wrong with this place I am living in! Haha! Have a good day!

Pete said...

Hi Naranja, yes, you can use regular chives if you cannot find the garlic chives or niras or whatever it's called. Korean pancakes using regular chives is actually a popular way of making the pancake so you're good to go. I hope your friend likes it. :)

Anonymous said...

Hello. I finally tried this recipe the other day. Everyone loves it and I have made it twice since. Haha. Love those chives!

Pete said...

Hey that's awesome! I should include more vegan recipes. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Peter, can I add eggs to the pancake mix? Just posted my first Pajeon in my blog. I may have mistakenly added eggs but they turned out great. I like the garlic added. Now I have confident to try more different ones, certainly with Kimchi. Happy New Year!

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