Buchujeon (Garlic Chive Pancake) - a savory and crispy Korean pancake made with onions and garlic chives with a tangy dipping sauce! This quick and easy pancake is ready in 30 minutes. A great appetizer, side or snack.
Jump to:
Buchujeon is a delicious crispy pan-fried Korean garlic chive pancake. "Buchu" means "garlic chives" and "jeon" means pancake in Korean.
The batter is made of garlic chives, onions, all purpose flour, cornstarch, various seasonings and cold water and fried in a generous amount of oil until crispy!
Buchujeon is served with a savory dipping sauce to make it complete. Korean restaurants will serve this popular dish and Koreans love to enjoy it on a rainy day with cold beer.
When I first had this Korean savory pancake and it was the seafood version (aka Haemul Pajeon) but I remember the tastiest part of the pancake were the garlic chives!
After making this dish many times, I've perfected the recipe and I'm happy to share it with you all. I honestly love this version so much because it's so crispy and packed with oniony flavor!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils.
Pancake Batter
- Garlic Chives: these are not regular chives that are hollow in the center. They are flat, about 1 - 1.5 foot long and pointy at the ends and sold at Asian grocery stores. If you can't find them, substitute with green onions.
- Small Onion: or substitute with green onions.
- All Purpose flour: a general use white wheat flour.
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch.
- Baking powder: to help the pancake become super crispy.
- Salt
- Chicken bouillon powder
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Very cold water: do not use room temperature or warm water.
Dipping Sauce
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Rice vinegar: or substitute with white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- Sesame oil: omit if you're allergic to sesame and substitute with a neutral oil.
- Green onion
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Make sure to pat dry the garlic chives to remove any excess water with paper towels or this can cause soggy pancakes.
- Chop the garlic chives into 1.5 inch long pieces so they can evenly mix in the batter.
- Thinly slice onions for better incorporation.
- Don't over mix the batter or it'll stimulate the gluten making the pancake dense and less crispy.
- Use a non-stick pan to prevent the pancake from sticking and for easy cleanup!
- Generous amount of oil is necessary or the pancake won't become crispy.
- Charring is recommended. It brings out that delicious taste from the aromatics.
- Serve the crispy pancake over parchment paper because the parchment paper will soak up any excess oil which leads to a soggy pancake.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make buchujeon:
- Wash garlic chives to remove any dirt. Pat them very dry with paper towel. Chop them into 1.5 inch long pieces and transfer into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining pancake batter ingredients to the garlic chives and mix just until combined but do not over mix.
- Heat a large non-stick pan (about 11 to 12 inches wide) over medium-high heat and pour in 2.5 tablespoon of vegetable oil or any neutral oil.
- Once the oil is hot, swirl the oil around in the pan and pour in the pancake batter spreading it out evenly and thinly with chopsticks. Then scrape out the remaining batter with a spatula filling in any pancake holes.
- Reduce to medium heat and fry until the bottom is crispy golden brown and slightly charred with small bubbles forming all over the pancake, about 3 minutes.
- Once you have a golden brown crust and the batter looks solidified, flip over with a large spatula. Pour remaining oil along the edges of the pan. Swirl the pancake in the oil to prevent it from sticking.
- Fry until the other side is golden brown and the onions are a bit charred, about 2-3 minutes. Press the pancake down a few times with the spatula to make the pancake crispy.
- Transfer the large pancake to a cutting board and slice with a sharp knife into small squares or wedges and transfer to a large serving plate.
- In a small bowl, combine dipping sauce ingredients and serve with pancake.
Storage
- Buchujeon is best enjoyed fresh or within the same day.
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes or reheat on the stovetop in a pan on medium heat until hot. Note: naturally the pancake will become soggy over time.
- Freezer-friendly? I don't recommend freezing buchujeon because the garlic chives will become mushy.
Pairing Suggestions
Buchujeon can be served with Korean side dishes:
FAQ
Buchujeon is best enjoyed fresh but you can make it in advance up to 4 days and store the pancake in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave or pan-fry on the stove top until hot through out.
Yes, but I recommend adding chopped peeled shrimp, calamari or octopus to buchujeon as these proteins cook quickly. Avoid using chicken, pork, beef or fish if possible.
Other recipes you may like
- Korean Scallion Pancake (Pajeon)
- Kimchi Pancake (Kimchijeon)
- Chamchijeon (tuna pancakes)
📖 Recipe
Easy Buchujeon (Korean Garlic Chive Pancakes)
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Pancake Batter:
- ¾ cup garlic chives or substitute with green onions
- ¼ cup onion thinly sliced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch or potato starch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ cup water very cold
Dipping sauce:
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon green onion finely chopped
Instructions
- Wash garlic chives to remove any dirt. Pat them very dry with paper towel. Chop them into 1.5 inch long pieces and transfer into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining pancake batter ingredients to the garlic chives and mix just until combined but do not over mix.
- Heat a large non-stick pan (about 11 to 12 inches wide) over medium-high heat and pour in 2.5 tablespoon of vegetable oil or any neutral oil.
- Once the oil is hot, swirl the oil around in the pan and pour in the pancake batter spreading it out evenly and thinly with chopsticks. Then scrape out the remaining batter with a spatula filling in any pancake holes.
- Reduce to medium heat and fry until the bottom is crispy golden brown and slightly charred with small bubbles forming all over the pancake, about 3 minutes.
- Once you have a golden brown crust and the batter looks solidified, flip over with a large spatula. Pour remaining oil along the edges of the pan. Swirl the pancake in the oil to prevent it from sticking.
- Fry until the other side is golden brown and the onions are a bit charred, about 2-3 minutes. Press the pancake down a few times with the spatula to make the pancake crispy.
- Transfer the large pancake to a cutting board and slice with a sharp knife into small squares or wedges and transfer to a large serving plate.
- In a small bowl, combine dipping sauce ingredients and serve with pancake.
Wendy
Made this yesterday and my boyfriend ate the whole entire pancake! Thanks for the recipe 🙂 I thought the apple cider vinegar was too strong in the sauce but the pancakes itself was very tasty~
christieathome
Thank you so much for these kind words and for making my recipe! I'm so glad you enjoyed the dish and note taken on the ACV 🙂 Have a lovely day!
Jennifer
I made this twice over the weekend, and it was delicious.
I used a tablespoon of regular chives instead of garlic chives, because I couldn't find fresh chives and good luck finding garlic chives on Maui.
For the sauce, I halved the amount of vinegar, and subbed unseasoned rice vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar. I also used twice as much gochujang in my dipping sauce.
Thanks for the recipe!
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Jennifer! So glad you enjoyed it with normal chives. Great substitution!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
What a fun party starter or late night binge watching snack! I'm just loving all of the savory flavors in this pancake, too... it's the perfect plant-based treat!