Sunday, December 5, 2010

Boochim or Jeon (seafood pancake)

I`ve been totally obsessed with this savory pancake that I made it for like 3 times last week! Why? I`d tell you why soon.
Quite a while ago, I`ve previously made a post about the pancake, which is usually called "Chijimi" in Japan. I really love it! I love it so much that if there is only one plate of it in our house, I won`t share it with him. Even a bit. Even the smell (if it`s possible). That`s how much I love it. So, I was really glad to find Holly`s blog with her great step-by-step instruction in cooking Korean dishes with the pancake`s recipe on it! Thanks, Holly!
It turned out that Chijimi is a slang word, and  Boochim or Jeon are the real names instead. But Chijimi, or Boochim, or Jeon, there is only one thing I have to tell you. If you haven`t tried it, try it. Please. Otherwise you`ll miss something good in this world. Another reason why you should try it is because it`s really easy to make. Go check out Holly`s recipe and you`ll see how she combined shrimp, squid, and oyster into a batter with spring onion and green onion in it. I would love to have her pancake, but green onions and octopus were all I had for the filler.

So, why did I make this pancake 3 times in a week?? Because, I wanted my pancake to be very thin and crispy, so I kept trying to get the right composition between flour, water, and egg. But no matter how the batter turned out, I loved it! So one time, I made 4 pancakes and I ate 3 of them. Three. I could eat more if I had any left.

Now, I`m going to share my version of Boochim, which is slightly different in composition of the batter and with less filler.

Start with mixing flour and water with 1:2 ratio. I used 1/2 cup of flour and 1 cup of water and that gave me 4 pancakes with 18-cm in diameter. But I guess that also depends on how much filler you add into the batter. Maybe? I don`t know. I`m just blabbering here. So, measure the flour and dump it into a mixing bowl. Or a tupper box like I did, because it`s easier for me to keep the leftover (if any, which never happens when it comes to Boochim).



Pour in water into the flour and stir up.



Alright, Holly added the eggs during the frying process. But I just mixed the eggs with batter. Just try both version if you want.

So, into 1/2 cup of flour and 1 cup of water, add 1 whole egg.



Whisk up.



And because I figured I didn`t have enough ingredients for my batter, I added this. Sesame seed. I can smell the happiness brought in by these seeds.
Season the batter with salt, pepper, and chilli (or cayenne pepper).



 Well well, here comes the green. As much as I love nira (Japanese for garlic chives), Holly suggested to use green onion instead and that`s what I did. Judging from her green onion`s pictures, I think I used the same thing. It`s konegi (小ねぎ)in Japanese.


Cut the green onion into 3-4 cm in length and toss them into the batter. Now your batter is ready.


Time for seafood. I used boiled tako, or octopus. As I wanted my pancake to be flat, I cross-wisely sliced it up into very thin slices. 


Now, drizzle some olive oil on your pan, heat it, and start spreading the batter onto the pan using a laddle. I like my pancake to be thin so I just add the batter enough to cover the pan surface. After spreading the batter, quickly place some tako slices onto the batter.
Also, to avoid tako falling apart from the pancake when you flip it over, drizzle some batter on tako surface and this batter will work like a glue.
This step won`t take too long, but you have to add olive oil by drizzling it around the pancake so the batter will get browned faster.


Take a peek at the edge to see if it`s browned at the bottom already. If it is, flip it over, add some more oil, and wait until it`s nicely browned.

When it`s done, hold a plate on your left hand and the frying pan with the pancake on your right hand. Now quickly, but carefuly (don`t let the pan get too close to your hand as you don`t want to get burned) flip over the pancake to the plate. If you`re left-handed, do it inversely.
You`ll get the top side of the pancake back on its place.
Or just use your spatula. If you don`t need to impress anyone when you`re doing this.

Serving time! This pancake (or crepe due to its thinness?) tastes BEST with The Sauce. Just make the sauce and you`ll know what I`m talking about. I happen to use different ingredients with Holly for the sauce. You can try experiencing with it. It`s fun!
The look? Yeah, my green onions are burnt. But did I care? No. I never do. No matter how it looks, when I cut it with my chopsticks, dip it to the sauce, and put it in my mouth, I feel happy. Then smile. Then eat it again. Until the 3rd pancake`s gone.


I`m not sure if you can see it, but I was trying to show you how crispy it was. CRUNCH!





Ingredients:
For crepes:
Flour 1/2 cup
Water 1 cup
Whole egg 1
Sesame seeds
Salt pepper to taste
Chili or cayenne pepper, adjust the spiciness
Green onions, chopped
Boiled octopus, sliced

For dipping sauce:
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
Sugar, a pinch

4 comments:

  1. Great job. I love your idea of adding the sesame seeds and egg in the batter. I sometimes add eggs in the batter, too. Your Boochim awakens my deep, dark craving of fried food. Lovely, just lovely...

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  2. I guess I`ve been Boochimized, lol. Thanks for your tutorials! They`re very helpful!

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  3. hidangan kegemaran gw di korean resto heheheh...gak pake daging/seafood pun gak papa, kayak bakwan sayur aja heheheh

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  4. bener bener, cukup daun2 aja juga udah ok, ceritanya versi vegan (atau miskin, lol!). kl ditipisin banget, mirip kulit martabak tp ada tempelan sayurnya.

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