Korean Prawn Scallion Pancakes

Here is one of my favorite quick meals to make, and one of my go-to recipes when I don’t feel like doing much. These Korean Prawn Scallion pancakes are sort of like a street food in Seoul, but also popular in nice restaurants as well.

If you are thinking pancakes are not dinner, then I should tell you that Asian style pancakes are not sweet. There is also no baking powder so they are really more like savory bread that’s just cooked on a pan or griddle. All in all you can make these in just a few minutes (hence my lazy dinner idea). They are also much more authentic than my Korean Gochujang Prawn Skewers which are more of a fusion recipe.

To make really good Korean prawn scallion pancakes you really want to control the temperature of your pan – other than that there is really no skill needed to make these delicious treats!

Korean Prawn Scallion Pancakes Ingredients

• 20 large Prawns peeled
• 240 grams Flour two cups, sifted
• 3 eggs
• 250 ml Water 1 cup
• 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• Vegetable Oil

Soy Gochujang Dipping Sauce

• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Gochujang Chili Paste
• 2 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Ginger grated

For these Korean prawn pancakes I’m using tiger prawns since they were frozen on sale. For 4 pancakes I use 20 prawns. Just peel them from the shell and set them aside.

This recipe uses two cups of flour, which is 240 grams. As this isn’t real baking you don’t need to measure on a scale, you can just eyeball it. I definitely suggest sifting your flour though as that will help the bread to be even and well mixed.

The batter is extremely simple; just add in 3 eggs, a cup of water (250 ml), a tablespoon of vegetable oil, a tablespoon of garlic powder, a tablespoon of sugar, and a teaspoon of salt. You can leave out the sugar if you want, but I do find it lends a deeper and richer flavor without making the pancakes actually sweet.

Of course when making these Korean prawn scallion pancakes you need scallions. For this recipe I use 3 thick scallions / green onions. Just cut the root off and then separate the white onion part from the tubular sprout. You will use both parts in this recipe, but for different steps. Chop the white part as shown above, into small pieces. Then cut the sprout part into 2-3 cm lengths.

Add the 2-3 cm lengths to the batter and mix it all together. Realistically making this batter only takes a few minutes.

The spicy soy gochujang dipping sauce is a perfect pair for these pancakes and also extremely easy. Just whisk together two tablespoons of soy sauce with a tablespoon of gochujang chili paste. Also add in two teaspoons of rice wine vinegar, a teaspoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of grated ginger, and the white part of the scallions.

In a hot pan add a bit of vegetable oil and pour in the batter until it coats the entire bottom. I suggest using a small pan so everything is even and measured. My pan has an 18 cm diameter base which I feel works well. As soon as you pour in the batter, start pressing your prawns into the batter.

If you wait until after the batter cooks a bit then the prawns won’t stay in and will just fall off when you flip. After the bottom is golden brown (you can check with a spatula, it will be okay) then flip the homemade prawn scallion pancakes and cook for another minute. Slide onto a cutting board, cut into quarters, and serve!

More Korean Recipes To Try

• Korean Barbeque Pork Belly
• Ssamjang (Korean BBQ Dipping Sauce)
• Korean Corn Cheese
• Spicy Korean Fried Chicken
• Spicy Tteokbokki