Name: Pajeon Inspired Recipe for Quick and Easy Seafood Pancakes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: ¾ cup all-purpose flour; ¾ cup water; 1 egg; ¾ teaspoon sea salt; 1 cup scallions or chives, cut into 2-inch pieces; 3 to 4 ounces leftover flaked fish, or diced cold smoked or hot smoked sockeye salmon; Vegetable oil, for cooking

Korean Style Scallion Cakes Perfect for Leftover Flaked Fish

Seafood pancakes are a quick and easy anytime meal. Made with leftover flaked fish, seafood pancakes can be a savory breakfast, a 20-minute lunch, an afternoon snack, or one component of a dinner feast.

Our seafood pancakes are inspired by a Korean-style haemul pajeon recipe, a scallion and seafood pancake made with a simple batter of flour, water, and egg. Haemul pajeon can contain whatever seafood you like, so feel free to adapt this recipe with morsels of cooked spot prawns, shreds of crab meat, or a combination of your favorite wild-caught options.

Haemul pajeon is typically made with all-purpose flour, but you have the option here to use all wheat flour if you prefer a nuttier seafood pancake, a mix of white and wheat to balance the flavor and texture of the two, or even a 50-50 blend of all-purpose flour with buckwheat flour for pancakes that have that bittersweet flavor reminiscent of blinis.

The batter is a simple one that comes together with enough water so that it is just thick enough to hold bits of seafood in place, with a little egg for lift. Salt gives the batter some flavor of its own, even if you end up using seafood that’s already been seasoned.

Scallions or chives are a classic vegetable to mix into this pancake batter, adding fresh texture, herbaceous flavor, and color to the pancakes; they also both have enough time to soften in the pan so that you’re not left with totally raw veg in the pajeon.

Any type of flaked, leftover fish will do for these seafood pancakes, regardless of how it’s been seasoned; any type of flavor profile will serve to enhance the meal. Alternatively, you can use either smoked sockeye salmon (either cold smoked or hot smoked!), which might inspire you to make these for brunch.

You’ll be frying the seafood pancakes in a vegetable oil that can hold up to high heat — grapeseed oil or canola are both good options.

Print Recipe

Pajeon Inspired Recipe for Quick and Easy Seafood Pancakes

By Wild Alaskan Company

Prep time

5 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Total time

15 minutes

Yield

2 servings

Ingredients

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup water
1 egg
¾ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup scallions or chives, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 to 4 ounces leftover flaked fish, or diced cold smoked or hot smoked sockeye salmon
Vegetable oil, for cooking

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, water, egg, and salt until combined. Fold in scallions or chives, then set aside. Note: The egg should be beaten in the water to avoid a clumpy batter.

2. Heat up a large skillet or griddle pan over medium-high heat, adding enough oil to just cover the bottom of the cooking surface — about two tablespoons.

3. When the oil begins to shimmer, pour in all of the batter, helping it to spread out evenly with a spoon so that it forms a large pancake that’s just thick enough to hold some flaked fish in place. Don’t worry if the pancake isn’t perfectly round: Just eyeball everything, aiming for a relatively even thickness.

4. Add seafood to the top of the pancake, arranging it evenly and nestling it into the batter while the batter is still raw. Keep in mind that you’ll want this side of the pancake to lay flat once you flip it, so try to press the seafood down so that it’s just even with the batter. (You could also simplify by throwing your seafood in with the batter — try both ways and see what works best for you).

5. Allow the first side of the pancake to cook until it’s nice and golden with a crispy crust, taking a peek beneath it by lifting with a spatula. If it looks like it’s picking up too much color — again, you want golden, not blackened — your pan is too hot, so lower the heat and slide the pan over to a cool burner for a moment.

6. After about 5 minutes, carefully flip the pancake using a spatula or two. It’s a large pancake, but the scallions and seafood help give it some structure so that it is less apt to fall apart. If it breaks apart, don’t stress. Just rearrange it in the pan; the uncooked batter may very well glue it back together once it cooks.

7. Add another tablespoon or so of oil around the edges of the pancake once the second side just begins to set, lifting the pancake so that the oil can make its way beneath. Give the pan a shake to help distribute the oil evenly.

8. Allow the pancake to cook for another 5 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 6 pie-shaped pieces and serve immediately alongside a fresh salad, with soy sauce or a sriracha mayo for dipping.

Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of food-borne illness, especially if you have a certain medical condition. The FDA recommends an internal temperature of 145°F for cooked fish.

Pajeon Inspired Recipe for Quick and Easy Seafood Pancakes

Korean Style Scallion Cakes Perfect for Leftover Flaked Fish

Pajeon Inspired Recipe for Quick and Easy Seafood Pancakes

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