Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

Korean “Pa jeon” are a savory pancake make with scallions. These are a bit similar to TJ’s popular TAIWANESE GREEN ONION PANCAKES however the Korean SCALLION PANCAKES, known in Korean as “pajeon“, contain a lot more scallions plus other vegetables like onions, carrots, king oyster mushrooms and other goodies as you can see in the picture. These pancakes are quite tasty and Trader Joe’s version (made in Korea) are pretty good!

To make pajeon pancakes, you make a batter then add vegetables to it and pan fry the pancakes in a pan. I’ve have had them many times in Korean restaurants and those are delicious, really crispy. Naturally I can’t compare Trader Joe’s frozen scallion pancakes to those I’ve had in Korean restaurants but never the less, I enjoyed these. They are quite tasty and we enjoyed them and they are well worth trying. You will enjoy these, especially if you can get them really crispy – which is the trick to making good pajeon.

The package suggests defrosting them before cooking doing either an overnight defrost in the fridge, or you can leave them out on the counter for a 1/2 hour, which is what I did. In a pinch they say you could do them from frozen. I didn’t try that way.

COOKING: Add a teaspoon or two of oil in a non stick or heavy skillet. If you have sesame oil you should use that for the most authentic Korean taste. Get the oil hot on medium heat then add your (defrosted) pancakes. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on the first side checking the bottom occaisonally. You want to get them as golden brown as possible. You can press them gently with a spatula to get them browned. When ready flip them over and cook the second side, again getting your pajeon as nice and golden brown as possible, maybe another 2-3 minutes. Drain them on a paper towel if you like. The package says you can bake them in the oven as well but I didn’t try that method yet.

Be sure to eat them asap while they are hot and crispy.

To serve them, cut the pancakes into quarters or slices (I actually cut the pancakes before I cooked them as you can see above). Either way works. You want to eat these with a nice Asian dipping sauce, so get that prepped first. If you have some Gochujang , sesame oil and garlic in the sauce that will give you Korean flavor however any Asian dumpling sauce will work.

You could even top them with a fried egg. Or you could put some cooked shrimp on top. So be creative too. Pajeon are hugely popular in Korean cuisine and can also be made with additional ingredients such as shrimp, beef, pork, tofu, seaweed, and other vegetables.  Seafood pajeon are called haemul pajeon, kimchi pajeon are known as kimchijeon.

What to enjoy along with these to make a full meal? We ate them with fried rice and these go well with that. Maybe TJ’s Japanese Fried Rice or Bulgogi Fried Rice? Add KIMCHI on the side or mixed in for sure.

All in all, I found these SCALLION PANCAKES quite tasty. I would buy them again. They are about $4 for 4 pancakes. More expensive than the plainer Taiwan pancakes as these have way more ingredients.