Recipes › Garlic › Korean-Style Garlic Chive Pancakes
Korean-Style Garlic Chive Pancakes
These savoury pancakes are built around a full 200g of fresh garlic chives, sliced garlic, and a crispy batter that fries up golden and shattering at the edges. They are inspired by the Korean pajeon tradition — something between a pancake and a fritter — and the dipping sauce is sharp, salty, and deeply sesame-scented. Quick enough for a weeknight but satisfying enough to make the main event.
Garlic is usually ready June to July. More garlic recipes, or see what to sow this month where you are.
Ingredients
- 6 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
- 200 Garlic chives, cut into 5cm lengthsregular chives work but garlic chives add much more flavour
- 150 g Plain flour
- 50 g Cornflour
- 220 ml Cold water
- 1 Egg, beaten
- ½ tsp Fine salt
- 6 tbsp Vegetable oil, divided across batches
- 3 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp Caster sugar
- 1 tsp Toasted sesame seeds
- 1 Fresh red chilli, finely sliced into rounds (optional)
Contains: cereals gluten, eggs, sesame, soya, sulphites.
Method
- Make the dipping sauce first: stir together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, caster sugar, sesame seeds, and sliced chilli if using. Set aside to let the sugar dissolve.About 2 min
- Whisk together the plain flour, cornflour, salt, cold water, and beaten egg in a large bowl until you have a smooth batter with roughly the consistency of single cream. Do not overwork it — a few small lumps are fine.About 2 min
- Add the sliced garlic and garlic chives to the batter and stir so everything is evenly coated.About 1 min
- Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, ladle in half the batter, spreading it into a circle roughly 20cm in diameter. Press down lightly with a spatula.About 1 min
- Cook the pancake for 4 minutes undisturbed until the base is deep golden and crisp and the edges are set. Flip carefully and cook for a further 3 minutes until the second side is equally golden. Slide onto a board and repeat with another 2 tablespoons of oil and the remaining batter to make a second pancake.About 14 min
- Cut the pancakes into wedges and serve immediately with the dipping sauce alongside.
Tips
- Cold water in the batter is important — it keeps the gluten from developing too much and gives a lighter, crispier result. Some cooks add a few ice cubes to the water.
- Do not be tempted to flip the pancake early. It needs those 4 minutes undisturbed on the first side to build a properly crisp base that will hold together when you flip it.
- Garlic chives are flat-leafed and have a pronounced garlicky flavour quite different from round chives. In June and July you can often find them at Asian grocers or grow your own — they are extremely easy to grow and come back year after year.
Ring the changes
- Add 150g of grated courgette (squeezed dry in a clean cloth) to the batter along with the chives for a more substantial, summery version.
- For a gluten-free version, replace the plain flour and cornflour with 200g of rice flour — the texture will be slightly different but still very crisp.
Keeping it
Best eaten straight from the pan. Leftovers keep for 1 day in the fridge and can be crisped back up in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes per side.
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