hobak jeon
Hobak jeon. A Korean dish made with zucchini coated in flour, dipped in beaten egg and fried. Truth be told, I did NOT like eating this growing up. I thought it was boring food, and a bit one-note. It was only until I got older in my late teens, when I was away at college did I begin to appreciate this simple and delicious dish.
“Hobak” in Korean can refer to both pumpkin and zucchini. There’s a stronger connection to the word pumpkin in my mind, but when you add the word “jeon,” Koreans think of this dish, prepared with zucchini. I’ve read the dish hobak jeon being described in English as a fritter or pancake—yes, but also not quite.
Basically, in this case, jeon is the end product of coating an ingredient (e.g. zucchini, oysters) in flour, dipping it in beaten egg and frying it in a pan. However, dishes that look more like a traditional pancake—e.g. seafood and scallion pancakes—are also included under the “jeon” umbrella.
The ingredients I use in this recipe are not traditional (e.g. using non-Korean, green zucchini, onion powder and fish sauce), BUT, the taste is—except turned up a notch.
This recipe tastes like the photoshop version of a classic—still familiar, but enhanced, in a good way.
Ingredients:
2 green zucchini (the ones I used were 7½ inches long, 1½ inches across)
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of salt
3 eggs
1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce
2½ tablespoons of cooking oil (I used vegetable oil)
Ingredients, clockwise: zucchini, all purpose flour, salt, eggs, onion powder and fish sauce. Not pictured: vegetable oil.
Directions:
Cut the zucchini into 1/3” inch slices
I like slicing the zucchini into 1/3” inch slices, you can slice them thinner, but that will affect the cooking time.
In a gallon-sized plastic storage bag pour in the flour, onion powder and salt. Seal the bag and shake the contents to ensure that the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
Open the plastic bag and put in all of the zucchini slices.
Seal the bag and SHAKE it up, making sure the zucchini slices are all coated in the flour mixture.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs and fish sauce together.
At this time, heat up your frying pan to medium heat. You want to make sure the pan is heated up before you start frying the zucchini—this is important. If the zucchini goes in when the pan isn’t quite ready, you’re not going to get as good of a result. Also, do not go higher than medium heat, otherwise the outside of the zucchini will cook too quickly, and the center will most likely remain raw.
Dip the zucchini in the egg mixture.
Using 2½ tablespoons of cooking oil, fry the zucchini. They’ll need about 3 minutes on each side. They should be a nice, golden color.
After frying, lay the zucchini on a plate lined with paper towel to soak up any extra oil.
Enjoy as an appetizer, side dish or snack!
