Hobak Jeon - Korean Zucchini Pancakes

Hobak Jeon aka zucchini pancakes are a savory snack popular in Korean cuisine that are made with small pieces of zucchini in a thick batter and fried until crispy with a little oil. Dip them in a spicy sauce to complete this delicious dish!

When I was growing up, I only knew about two kinds of pancakes. The regular fluffy kind that was served with butter and syrup and the thin ones we ate sprinkled with lime juice and sugar. We called those crepes but my British friends and classmates in Trinidad called them pancakes. 

Who knew that there is a whole world full of other delicious pancakes out there! In fact, starting on 28 February, we celebrate Pancake Week, which includes Pancake Day on 1 March, also known as Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday. I’ve asked my Sunday FunDay friends to share their favorite recipes with you so you can join the festivities. Make sure to scroll to the bottom to check out the list. 

I must confess that hobak jeon are new to me and I found them originally on a Wikipedia list of international pancakes. Hobak means zucchini and jeon is pancake or fritter. Since then I’ve discovered that there are many varieties of jeon. They can contain meat or fish, diverse vegetables, even kimchi. Some look more like Japanese tempura – ingredients dipped in a batter - with vegetables sliced in large pieces rather than small chopped bits. Some batters use eggs, many do not. 

I think we could do an entire event just making variations of jeon! What a wonderful, tasty experience that would be! Who's game? 

Hobak Jeon - Korean Zucchini Pancakes

This recipe is adapted from Gastronomy Recipes. The batter could not be simpler so the zucchini flavor gets to shine. Do not skip the dipping sauce though. Its spicy saltiness complements the pancakes perfectly.

Ingredients

For the 8 pancakes:

2 small zucchini, approx. weight 9 oz or 255g before trimming

1 cup or 125g flour

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

3/4 cup or 180ml water

Sesame oil

Canola or other light oil

For the dipping sauce:

3 tablespoons soy sauce (I use the lower sodium type.)

1 1/2 tablespoon vinegar (I use aged Chinese black vinegar.)

1 tablespoon minced onion 

2 small cloves garlic, minced 

1 hot chili pepper, sliced

Method

Combine all of the ingredients for the dipping sauce and set it aside. Making this ahead allows time for the garlic, onion and pepper to infuse the soy sauce and vinegar while you mix and pan fry the hobak jeok. 

Cut the ends off of the zucchini and slice them in half lengthwise and then in half again. Trim off the seedy middle and discard. Cut the zucchini in half again through the middle so you have two long, thin pieces for each quarter zucchini. 

Slice each thin piece into smaller sticks. 

Place the zucchini sticks into a bowl and add in the flour and salt. Stir to coat the zucchini with the flour. 

Add the water and combine well with a spoon.

Heat a non-stick pan or griddle over a medium flame and drizzle in 1 tablespoon of oil. 

Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan and pat it so it spreads out a little with the back of your scoop.

Continue with this process till you have three or four pancakes cooking. Do not overcrowd your pan because you need room to flip the pancakes over with a spatula. 

As the bottom of the pancakes begin to brown, drizzle a little sesame oil into the pan, along the edges of the pancakes. Tilt and shake the pan so that the sesame oil spreads underneath the pancakes.

Cook for another minute until the bottom turns light golden brown and crispy, then turn the pancakes over with a spatula. 

Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the other side is nicely browned. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. 

As the pancakes are ready, put them on a warmed plate. Serve while hot, with the dipping sauce. 

If you aren’t serving them right away, I suggest warming the pancakes in a hot pan again to crispy them up before serving. 

Enjoy! 

As mentioned above, it’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing pancake recipes! Anything made with a batter is fair game.  Check out the links below. 

• 5-Ingredient Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes from Palatable Pastime
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from Our Good Life
• Fluffy Yummy Banana Pancakes from Sneha’s Recipe
• Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Hobak Jeon - Korean Zucchini Pancakes from Food Lust People Love
• Mini Vegan Yachaejeon (Korean Pancakes) from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Pearl Millet Pancakes/Chamchamiya from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Rice Cooker Pancake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sheet Pan Pancakes from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Strawberry Japanese Soufflé Pancakes from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Pecan Praline Cookies

Nothing says Mardi Gras party quite like the sweet chewy bite of pecan praline cookies! These bake up quick and easy, lighter than air, but with the rich taste of brown sugar and toasted pecans.

When I talk about home, I have a few places that fit that description. Several countries where I've lived overseas; Houston, which I call my hometown because it’s the place I’ve lived the longest at one stretch – the years from fourth to 12th grade, and now two years of pandemic; and New Iberia, Louisiana, where I was born and where my mom made sure we went every time she could find three days off in a row when I was growing up. 

New Iberia was not just where I was born. It is also where both of my parents grew up, where almost all of my extended family still lives. Cajun country. Home of good and spicy home cooked food, heavily laden pecan and fig trees, fields of sugar cane and elderly relatives who spoke French before they learned English in school and loved to pinch my cheeks.

We stayed with my maternal grandparents but my father’s mother lived just a block or so away so every morning, before anyone else was up, I’d pull on shorts and a t-shirt, slip out of the front door and walk to my grandmother’s house. She didn’t seem to sleep much, was always up before the birds, so I knew I’d find hot coffee milk and something good for breakfast in her warm kitchen.

Occasionally we’d make the longer drive all the way to New Orleans to visit my Aunt Karen, my mom’s closest sister. New Orleans meant fun with my cousins, beignets in the French Quarter and, if the timing was right, Mardi Gras parades. 

What a thrill it was to stake out a spot on the parade route and see that first festive float glide graciously into view! “Throw me something, mister!” we’d shout, jumping wildly, wrapping the beads around our wrists like bracelets and draping them around our necks. I was richer than Midas, more brilliantly festooned than the most famous queens of history, never mind the short shorts and skinned knees of a tomboy childhood.

Some of my fondest memories over these last 50 plus years are steeped in Louisiana history where native pecans feature prominently in many baked goods. When my grandparents were still around, I could count on them for a steady supply of freshly shelled Louisiana pecans, which they’d crack and pick, putting aside bags for the whole family. Now when I’m home, I buy them from a farmer’s market and store them – carefully sealed – in the freezer for great recipes such as this one.

Pecan Praline Cookies

Recipe credit goes to Eva Schexnayder who shared these pecan praline cookies in a charity cookbook sold to benefit Shadows-on-the-Teche, an antebellum mansion and National Trust for Historic Preservation property on the banks of the Bayou Teche in New Iberia. If you ever get down that way, I highly recommend a visit.

Ingredients – for 3 dozen cookies

1 large egg white

1 cup, packed, or 200g brown sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups, chopped, or 225g pecans

Method

Preheat your oven to 275°F or 135°C and line your cookie sheets with baking parchment or silicone liners.

Beat your egg white in a clean mixing bowl until stiff peaks form.

Mix in the brown sugar.

Fold in the chopped pecans and the vanilla.

Drop by heaped teaspoons on to the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 23-­28 minutes or until puffy and cooked through.

Leave to cool for a few minutes and then transfer with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely. I have to tell you that as delicate as these would seem to be, I have stacked them in a plastic container where they traveled from Dubai to Bali in my luggage and arrived in perfect condition! Don't be afraid to ship some to a friend who might need cheering up.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and have I got a treat for you, seven special Mardi Gras recipes for your celebration. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Cajun Nachos
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Muffuletta Sandwich
• Cook with Renu: Homemade Baked Donuts
• Food Lust People Love: Pecan Praline Cookies
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Cajun Stuffed Mushrooms
• Palatable Pastime: Bourbon Chicken Wings
• Sneha Datar : Marble Stuffed Coconut Pancakes

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

If "praline" is one of your OMG, I love that! trigger words, you might also like my coconut pralines with pecans, my black bottom pecan praline bars or my chocolate praline pretzels. Check 'em out.

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Broiled Asian-inspired Red Snapper Fillets

The marinade for these broiled Asian-inspired Red Snapper Fillets includes soy sauce, Shaoxing, mirin, miso paste and sesame oil. It elevates any plain fish to fabulous!

A few years ago, we were in California to pick up a vintage MG-D Tourer that had been restored for us by dedicated group of specialists. I had found it online quite by accident while searching for information about my husband’s grandparents. Turns out they were the owners listed on the original bill of sale back in 1932! Of course, we had to buy it. 

The gentleman who was selling it agreed to supervise its restoration in his workshop in Monterey, which is attached to a beautiful home he runs as a bed and breakfast. His only requirement was that we had to come to Monterey when the car was ready so he could teach us how to drive and care for it since there are a few tricks to keeping it running right and changing gears.

While we were there, we spent a few hours at the wonderful Monterey Aquarium, admiring the beautiful sea creatures and learning more about sustainability. I took that opportunity to download their Seafood Watch app which helped shoppers make better decisions about which seafood to buy. It was a great resource! Now you can use their website https://www.seafoodwatch.org to the same effect.

When our host for today’s Fish Friday Foodies chose the theme of sustainable seafood, I knew what I wanted to make. Red snapper has been on a no-no list for a while, but thanks to a new program in the Gulf of Mexico, their numbers are rising and Red Snapper, at least those wild-caught in the Gulf, is now a good alternative to more overfished species. 

Ingredients to serve 4

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons Shaoxing

2 tablespoons mirin

1 tablespoon white miso paste

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

2 red snapper fillets, scaled, approx. weight 1.6 lbs or 726g  

To garnish:

chopped cilantro

chopped red chili pepper (I use the larger ones that aren’t too hot.)

black sesame seeds

Method

Mix all of the ingredients up to the fish in a casserole dish large enough for the fillets to fit side by side. I used a little whisk. 

Put the fillets skin side up in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes but up to a three hours.

About half and hour before you want to cook your fish, remove it from the refrigerator and turn the fish over in the marinade, skin side down. 

Broil on high for about 9-11 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish, basting the fish about halfway through with the marinade.

Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes. 

I like to serve this with coconut rice to which I’ve added some thawed spinach. 

Garnish the red snapper with chopped cilantro, chopped red chili peppers and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds. 

Enjoy! 

It’s time for my fellow Fish Friday Foodies to share their sustainable seafood recipes! Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

• Braised Cod with Potatoes and Onions by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Broiled Asian-inspired Red Snapper Fillets by Food Lust People Love
• Khuboni/Khube Curry - East Indian by Sneha’s Recipe
• L'Uovo di Seppia by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pasta with Spiced Vegetables and Anchovies by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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