Recently, Jeremy and I went to one of our favorite restaurants, Sushi Na-Ra. It is lent season, so on Fridays only: we can’t eat meat, so it seemed like the perfect place to go before the movies. As we were looking over the menu, we saw what looked like a giant pancake. However, this was no ordinary pancake. It was a kimchi pancake, and it was nothing like the buttery, sweet cakes we eat here in America like these. So we decided to try it out. As I always say, when you go out to eat, it’s the perfect chance to try something new. -I never had sea urchin before. Now, it’s something I want my mom to taste, since she loves lobster tomalley.- It may be the best thing you’ve ever had. If not, you never have to order it again.
In Korean, Jeon (전) are a type of pancake made with a variety of ingredients (fish, meat, vegetables, etc.) mixed with egg and flour and fried until crispy. The one we had had kimchi in it (otherwise known as kimchijeon – 김치전 or kimchibuchimgae – 김치부침개). They can be eaten either as a snack, a side dish, or as an appetizer, and are relatively easy to make. Looking over recipes (from The Spruce Eats or Maangchi) it seems really quick, even more so than the regular pancakes. The key to each, as these websites and others talk about, is to make sure the kimchi is really juicy.
Our waitress informed us that they are popular over in South Korea and that they are a wide variety of different types of Jeon. The Wikipedia page confirms this with a relatively large list of different types – ones with seafood, – Perfect for Lent ones with meat in it, great protein perks scallion-based ones, etc.
When our order arrived it looked and smelt great, a hint of brininess but golden brown with a side of something like soy sauce. We picked it apart with chopsticks piece by piece like real South Koreans do. It’s much harder than fork and knife, but that’s why chopsticks are still used. It makes you slow down and enjoy your food rather than stabbing at it and shoveling everything in your mouth at once. Eating slowly is good for easy digestion. On that note, Lauren, people claim that kimchi is good for you. Fermented vegetables good bacteria and vitamins are productive for digestion.
When I used to teach ESL, I helped a lot of Korean students out while practicing their English. As a way of thank you, they would often make Korean dishes for me to try. They tended to have a lot of seafood and a lot of spice to them – perfect for me, but not so much for Lauren, though the seafood part is perfect for the two of us to try. While Sushi Na-Ra is a Korean restaurant, they are more focused on artful sushi dishes (which are all excellent and easy on the wallet, FYI). Check out these pics we took last summer:
Since none of my old students are around (or in the country for that matter), we’re looking for recommendations for places serving various Korean foods.
If anyone knows of an option in the NY capitol region, we will visit ASAP and post all about it.