I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.


Gluten and lactose are not my friends.


Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.


I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

February 28, 2015

Korean Seafood Pancake- Haemul Pajeon



Anyone who's a regular reader of my little blog will know that the InTolerant household has a deep love of Asian food


Our love affair with Chinese Dim Sum or Yum Cha is well documented, and Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese food is on our dinner menu probably more than any other type of cooking. I have to admit though that we've never delved very deeply into Korean.
Bulgogi and Korean style BBQ are firm favourites, but it wasn't until BigJ travelled across to South Korea on business last year where he tried and fell in love with some key ingredients (see here) that I decided to do a bit of research and try a few Korean recipes at home

In a fortuitous bit of Serendipity, I caught an episode of Korean Food Made Simple on Foxtel this week where cook Judy Joo was making a yummy looking seafood pancake. It seemed like such an easy and delicious recipe that once I make it I just had to share it with you all. It doesn't actually need many Korean ingredients and is easy to change up to gluten free without any loss of taste or texture at all- yummo!


Judy Joo's Seafood  Paejeon Korean Pancake



150grm gf SR Flour
300ml cold Water
2Tab Korean Soybean Paste (*not always gluten free, so substitute with mild gf Korean Chilli Paste, gf Miso or even gf Oyster Sauce)
10 large Prawns
4 Scallops
5 Spring Onions
2 large Red Chillis
2 Garlic Cloves
Salt and Pepper
Oil for frying

Dipping Sauce
2 finely diced Spring Onions
4 tab gf Soy Sauce (Kikkomans is great)
1 1/2 tab gf Rice Vinegar
1 tab Sesame Oil
1 tab crushed toasted Sesame Seeds
1 tab Korean Chilli Flakes/ finely diced chilli

For the sauce: simply combine all the ingredients together in a small bowl and let the flavours mingle while you make the pancakes

For the Pancakes:


Cut the prawns in half through back and remove the black line. Slice the scallops through in thirds making nice thin slices as well



Julienne the spring onions lengthwise- I used this nifty little tool that you just drag through, easy-peasy



Finely chop the chilli, leave the seeds or not depending on what amount of zing you enjoy



Slice, chop or grate the garlic finely as well. For this type of recipe I like to use a microplane as biting into a big chunk of raw garlic in a pancake isn't actually that pleasant



This is the Korean Soybean Paste, Doenjang. There are some on the market that are gluten free, but otherwise substitute as suggested



My lazy style to avoid washing up is to just pop all the ingredients in a bowl as they're ready



Mix it all around well until nicely combined and covered with batter



Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat and add about one third of the batter. Fry for about 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on the bottom



Flip over carefully and cook the other side until golden as well, about another 3 minutes or so. Make another 2 with the rest of the batter



Doesn't this look pretty- so brown and crispy!



Cut the pancake into smallish squares or wedges. No knives are on a Korean table so everything should come to the table chopstick sized


Serve while still hot and crispy with the dipping sauce

What a yummy dish indeed, the seafood is protected by the batter so it's just cooked through, still soft and sweet and the shredded spring onions mellow with the cooking. If all Korean food is this tasty, I can definitely see it becoming a staple on our table in the very near future too!


So Dear Reader, what's your favourite Asian cuisine, and have you tried much Korean food before?



14 comments:

  1. Oooh, Bec, that IS a nifty little tool, AND a delicious dish! Did you know there is a Korean grocer in Mitchell?

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  2. Yes, isn't it terrific Liz! I buy my pastes there and the meat is pretty good too :)

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  3. We always order this when we go out for Korean. It's so delicious and even better when you can make it with your favourite seafood too!

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  4. I don't think I've ever cooked Korean and I'm definitely sure I don't have a Korean cookbook. I do love the look of this pancake and it must be wonderful with the dipping sauce. I agree the less washing up the better and like you - I'm always looking for time-saving methods xx

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  5. I've never heard of these pancakes but they look divine!

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  6. Oh how good does that look! Yum! I could go a whole plate of them right now for breakfast.

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  7. Mmmm...lots of seafood surprise ready to burst in each pancake! Yummo!!!

    Julie & Alesah
    Gourmet Getaways xx

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  8. That julienne tool is really cool. John would be over the moon for your seafood pancakes.

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  9. I dont know anything about Korean food. these pancakes look very yummy Bec.

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  10. Asian cuisine, you chose the best topic, girl ;)

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  11. Korean food is a bit of a mystery to me, but this looks so very tasty and so simple! I'm also quite taken with your clever little shredding tool - I've never seen one of those.

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  12. I like your lazy one bowl style, suits me down to the ground if less washing up is involved. I love Korean food but rarely make it at home, this crispy pancake is definitely something I would love to try doing.

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  13. It's hard to love Korean food! This one is something I'm definitely adding to my recipe list. Super easy to make!

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  14. I would love to try this kind of a pancake! Seems tasty!

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