Korean Seafood Pancake - Haemul Pajeon - crispy outside, tender inside

Many of us who love Korean cuisine would probably name seafood shallot pancake as one of the favourites.

If you like have a quick fix at your home kitchen to satisfy your sudden craving for seafood pancake during the cold months, here are some tips :

Korean cooks would add some baking powder, rice flour, mung bean flour to all purpose or self raising flour, egg and cold water to make the batter.

Add beaten egg. Season with salt and pepper.

Ensure that the flour is well combined, but not too fluid.  Neither should it be dry and hard as a dough.

Pour a thin layer of mixture on a  non-stick or well greased frying pan.  Cast iron hot plate conducts heat very well and makes the pancake crispy. However, using Korean magic stone frying pan requires less oil and is a healthier option.

Add seafood. Then pour the rest of the batter.

You'll need medium high heat to sizzle the egg pancake till it's crispy on the outside but remains soft and juicy within. Flip over and cook briefly for2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pancake rest for another 2 minutes.

To prepare dipping sauce : soy sauce, vinegar, spring onion, sliced green and red chillies.

It's easy to cook, no fuss, no mess.

Seafood - secret of balancing and enhancing taste

How do you replicate delicious restaurant cooking at home? Cooking seafood may not be as difficult as it seems if you balance the right ingredients. Going by the yin-yang theory, one needs to balance the coolness of food from the water with heaty ingredients such as ginger and/or pepper. A dash of wine as marinade or added with seasoning sauces would do wonders to a simple seafood dish. This not only helps to harmonize the food as well as get rid of any hint of fishiness.


The harder green vegetables go better with frying meat and vegetables. Celery, brocoli, asparagus are good choices.


Superior soy, oyster, abalone and XO sauces are premium seasoning for seafood. However, when using fresh water seafood, try to avoid using sauces with too much salt as it will emphasize rathern than mask the muddy flavours.


For garnishing, spring onion, garlic crisps and shallot exude a strong aroma that brings out the tastes of seafood.



The fresh clean taste of stir fry fish fillet with blanched carrot, mushroom and brocoli, ginger, garlic, chives in white potato starch sauce.




Scallop on the shell without roe lightly steamed with spring onion, coriander leaves and ginger in sesame and soy sauce.

Mud crab is always the grand finale in any meal. Unlike blue swimmer and flower crabs, this dish must be prepared from live crabs. This version is ginger and shallot. Other favourite sauces are chilli sambal, thom yum, golden curry, XO or herbal. All the ingredients have to be fried separately and then combined for a quick stir in the wok before serving.

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Clever Alternatives : how to substitute cooking ingredients

Do not fret is you realize you did not have an ingredient while cooking and it is inconvenient to rush to the store.

The glossary would be useful to some who are allergic to certain foods to find easy substitutes without compromising on taste.

Vegetables and Fruits

Beansprout -- shredded cucumber -- radish

Celery -- fresh fennel (aniseed) -- Chinese celery or parsley

Chives -- spring onions

Green Mango -- Granny Smith Apple

Waterchestnut -- yam bean -- Jerusalem artichoke

Saffron -- tumeric

Meat, Poultry, Fish

Bacon -- Ham

Beef or pork mince -- boiled lentils

Chicken -- Pork -- Tofu

Fish -- tofu wrap in seaweed -- konyaku+kelp

Prosciutto -- Chorizo

Flour

Thickening : Sweet potato starch -- corn flour -- flour -- tapioca flour

Self raising flour -- all purpose flour+baking powder+pinch of salt

Spices, seasoning and gravy

Allspice -- cinnamon+nutmeg

Candlenut (for curry) -- cashew or macadamia nut

Castor sugar -- blend coarse white sugar in a food processor

Hoisin sauce -- mashed salty black bean + sugar -- oyster sauce

Palm sugar -- raw or brown sugar+coconut cream

Brown sugar -- caramelised onions -- caramelised white sugar

Tahini -- Sesame oil + peanut butter

Wasabi -- English mustard paste -- Dijon mustard

Wattle seed -- instant coffee

Liquid and Dairy

Beer (in a batter) -- Soda water

Buttermilk -- Yoghurt -- milk+lemon juice

Brandy -- rum -- Ginger beer

Cream -- whip milk with melted unsalted butter

Coffee paste -- reduced strong instant coffee+sugar -- wattle seed powder

Egg -- add water and mix with egg white / egg yolk powder

Rose wine -- rose water+rice wine

Sour cream -- yoghurt

White Wine -- Apple Juice

Molasses -- honey+corn syrup+brown sugar

Baking

Butter -- shortening+olive oil --- macadamia oil

Cake flour (low gluten) -- 70% of all purpose flour

Cocoa -- carob powder

Cream of tartar -- teaspoon of vinegar -- lemon juice

Double acting baking powder -- baking soda+cream of tartar

Milk -- milk powder+water

Royal icing -- egg white+icing sugar -- melamine powder+water

Unsweetened chocolate -- cocoa powder + fat

* Please ensure that the consumer has no specific allergy issues with any of the substitute ingredients or other health related concerns.

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Exotic Lotus Tea

Most tea lovers would have tasted herbal tea that boasts of health benefits and are caffeine free. But lotus tea not only sounds exotic but tastes heavenly. Brewed with dried lotus seeds and lotus flowers, it is refreshing to the senses. Available at Nan Tian Temple, Wollongong. You might want to try this at home but be sure to rinse the flowers and seeds with with warm water of any pesticides and discard before brewing for food safety reasons.

Japanese Chasu Ramen

Ramen is an all-time favourite in summer and cold weather.

If fresh noodles are not available, I prefer to use dried organic ramen from Japan than frozen ramen that could be watery and may yield the desired consistency.

Chasu is made using fillet pork. I learnt this after attending a demonstration by an award winning Japanese chef who used to work at a fine-dining restaurant that churns out traditional and modern fusion dishes that are not available in most Japanese family restaurants. The key to making chasu is getting the right amount of soy sauce, mirin, sugar and ginger to dissolve in a pot. The pork is preferably bundled with cotton string to stabilize its shape while cooking. It takes about an hour of turning and tossing to ensure that the meat is evenly seasoned and cooked. When cooled, slice thinly.

The soup stock determines the success of the ramen. One could have shoyu (soy sauce), miso (bean paste) with dashi (seaweed and tuna flakes) or pork rib stock. If not making from scratch, try to use ready seasoning pack that has less or no MSG.

The other ingredients that go into the ramen are sweet corn, shallot, leek, mushroom, half boiled egg, sliced fish cake, bamboo shoots and any other vegetables you like.

Steamed scallop with clear noodle in spicy XO sauce

This is an easy and delicious recipe :

You'd need some fresh scallop on shell. Rinse away the sand and impurites and drain off excess water.

You could either get ready made bottled XO sauce or prepare your own by frying mashed dried shrimp, dried scallop, chopped garlic and ground dried chilli (add last) in vegetable or chilli oil.

Soak a small bundle of glass noodle (mung bean vermicelli) in lukewarm water. Cut into smaller strands.

Arrange vermicelli on each scallop. Steam over medium heat covered for 7 minutes.

Remove lid and spoon XO sauce on each scallop. Drizzle some soy sauce and sesame oil on the scallops. Sprinkle chopped spring onion and fried shallot. Steam for another 2 minutes.

Tip : Ensure that water on the cover does not get into the scallops.