Over the many lockdowns, I stumbled upon a gem of a cooking Youtube/blog that taught easy Korean recipes to the novice chef. My favourite Korean ajooma, Maangchi! From her channel, I learnt how to make many types of family-style Korean dishes, including Kimchijeon, hers also doesn’t require the use of eggs – making this recipe vegan-friendly.
You can watch her very detailed video below or read her blog here.
I typically do not like eating kimchi on its own, but I love it in a pancake form or on a Korean BBQ grill. Somehow the cooking brings out the milder flavours of the kimchi and takes away that strong pong. It’s definitely entry-level kimchi. The Koreans have many types of jeons, ranging from seafood to vegetables and kimchi – and I love them all! I miss going to Korean barbecue restaurants in general and having lashings of meat on the grill alongside an array of banchans (side dishes) and of course a delicious crisp jeon of choice.
I cannot teach better than Maangchi can, so I’ll just give you my learners notes so you don’t make the same mistakes I did.
Vegan Kimchijeon
Recipe Notes:
Hot Damn, Frying Pan: How much oil to use
Make sure your frying pan is very hot and don’t scrimp on the oil, otherwise you will end up with a stodgy pancake. The oil helps the pancake crisp up. I find that reserving 1 tablespoon of oil to drizzle beneath the edges of the pancake helps create the crispy sides that everyone loves chowing down on. But be wary about putting too much oil as well, as you may end up with an overly greasy pancake, and no one likes that!
How do I flip the damn thing?
When you’re done crisping up one side….uh oh. How do I flip the damn thing now? I know, we can’t all flip it beautifully like Maangchi. The first time I tried so hard, and in the end – I slid it onto a large plate and upended the uncooked side onto the oiled pan. A hack here, you can use the Happycall pan if you have one (not an ad). It’s magic! It’s like a Korean induction pan creation that can be used as a Dutch oven and a frying pan at the same time. Things cook supremely quick in this non-stick pan. The downside? It’s a little heavy.
Keeping things saucy: Make the dipping sauce
So what’s a jeon without the deliciously savoury sauce that comes with it? Maangchi to the rescue for this too! Her other recipe for Spring Onion pajeon features the recipe for the dipping sauce. You can find it here. I’ve made it before without the onions and sesame seeds. I also substituted the chillis for dried chilli flakes, and it turned out fine. The most important components are the soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil! You can skip the sauce if you want, but why would you? It just adds to the whole experience!
I recently just popped by Chinatown for a bag of Bibigo kimchi, it is almost guaranteed I’ll make this again super soon. It’s one of my favourite things to eat and it’s a cheeky way of getting in some vegetables as part of your five-a-day. The kimchi also mellows out when you cook it this way, it is less pungent and spicy. Perhaps next time around I’ll put kimchi inside dumplings for a kimchi mandu!
If you ever read this Maangchi – saranghaeyo!.
cook. eat. rinse. repeat. 
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