Korean savory pancakes are delicious and easy to make with whatever you have on hand!

Kris grew up eating lots of Korean food and it is one of the cuisines we cook the most at home. Generally quite healthy—and always tasty—Korean dishes are also quite flexible, perfect at times like now when access to specialty ingredients might be limited and trips to the grocery store are few and far between.

Jeon is a whole category of food similar to omelets or pizza. Essentially a savory pancake—popular versions include scallion, seafood, and kimchi—you can use whatever you have on hand to put them together. Korean groceries sell jeon mix which typically includes a bit of cornstarch, garlic powder, and onion powder, but good ol’ all-purpose flour works just fine. You can easily make them vegan, though we add an egg for fluffy texture and extra richness. We serve ours with a gochujang (Korean fermented red pepper paste) based sauce and a soy sauce and vinegar-based dipping sauce but they are also great on their own. Be creative and trust your culinary instincts; it’s really hard to go wrong with jeon!

Today we’re making them with wild ramps available in early spring but can easily be replaced with scallions or leeks, sweet peppers and edible violets we foraged on our property. For added kick, slice up some chilis!

Tip: Jeon batter, with or without beaten egg, should be rather thin, more like a French crêpe than an American pancake. Add more flour or water as needed. You’ll get the hang of it after making one or two.Tip: Jeon batter, with or without beaten egg, should be rather thin, more like a French crêpe than an American pancake. Add more flour or water as needed. You’ll get the hang of it after making one or two.

Print Recipe
Korean Ramp Pancakes
What's great about this recipe is you can use whatever you have on hand to put them together.
Servings
Pancakes
Ingredients
Simple Dipping Sauce
Servings
Pancakes
Ingredients
Simple Dipping Sauce
Instructions
Dipping Sauce
  1. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar in a small bowl and mix well. Add sesame seeds and mix altogether. Set aside.
Pancakes
  1. Mince the ramps (scallions or leeks). Cut the sweet peppers into small matchsticks. Set aside with foraged violets or edible flowers.
  2. In a mixing bowl combine, all purpose flour, cornstarch, and large egg and beat well until there are no lumps. Batter should be rather thin. Add more flour or water as needed.
  3. Heat up a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Drizzle 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil into the skillet and swirl it around to spread. Lower the heat to medium.
  4. Pour some batter into the skillet for a small to medium size pancake. Depending on the size of your skillet, you can cook 2 to 3 pancakes at once.
  5. Scatter ramps and peppers over the pancake batter. Drizzle a little batter over the ramps and peppers. Add violets or edible flowers over top. Let cook for 3-4 minutes or until the bottom turns crispy. Turn pancake over with spatula and cook until crispy.
  6. Transfer to plate and garnish with leftover violets or edible flowers, minced ramps and red pepper threads. Serve hot with dipping sauce.