Kimchi-jeon
김치전
A sour, lacy kimchi pancake — the fridge-door dinner when the kimchi is too ripe to be polite.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: 김치전.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 22 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- Medium heat
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Kimchi-jeon is chopped sour kimchi bound with a thin batter and fried hard. It should be ruffled at the edges and loud with acid. Young crunchy kimchi makes a weaker pancake. This is what old kimchi is for, besides jjigae. Drain and squeeze sour kimchi until it is almost dry; wet kimchi steams the pancake from inside. Chop it small, bind with a thin batter, and fry in enough oil to ruffle the edges. Extra gochugaru in the oil helps the colour. Done is a dark-red crisp and a sour smell you can hear; young, sweet kimchi will not get you there no matter how hot the pan is.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Kimchi, chopped, plus 2 tbsp juice250 g
- Wheat flour80 g
- Water80 ml
- Gochugaru (optional)4.9 ml
- Neutral oil44 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Mix kimchi, juice, flour, starch, water, gochugaru and spring onion to a thick, lumpy batter.
3 minStep 2
Fry in a hot oiled pan as one or two pancakes until both sides are browned and the edges crisp, 3–4 minutes a side.
8 minStep 3
Serve with soy-vinegar. Eat immediately.
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Wheat flour → A gluten-free mix plus starch
Texture changes. Still a pancake.
Tips
- A handful of squid turns it into kimchi-haemul-jeon.
- Too much batter and you get a dumpling. Thin is crisp.
History & culture
Rainy-day anju, lunch with leftover rice, or a side that disappeared before the meat arrived. Solo drinkers make one pancake and call it dinner. Children who refuse stew kimchi will often eat this. It is rainy-day anju and leftover lunch with a bowl of rice. Share plates disappear before the grilled meat arrives, which is information, not a complaint.
Jeon as a technique is old. Kimchi as the filling is practical home cooking. Pan-frying a bound pancake is old kitchen method; using the loudest jar of cabbage as the filling is fridge logic, not a documented court plate. The weekday buchimgae habit is twentieth-century sense: use the ferment that has gone too sharp. We do not invent a dynasty for a fridge-clearing fritter.
Traditional
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Kimchi-jeon take?
22 min all in — 10 min prep, 12 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 2 pancakes. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
Medium heat.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Fish, Shellfish. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-free, Nut-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Frying pan.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Kimchi — 250 g (chopped, plus 2 tbsp juice); Soy sauce — 1 tbsp. Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.
How much kimchi?
250 g (chopped, plus 2 tbsp juice) of Kimchi.
How much gochugaru?
1 tsp (optional) of Gochugaru.
How much soy sauce?
1 tbsp of Soy sauce.
How much vinegar?
1 tsp of Vinegar.
What can I use instead?
Wheat flour → A gluten-free mix plus starch. Texture changes. Still a pancake.
Any tips from this recipe?
A handful of squid turns it into kimchi-haemul-jeon. Too much batter and you get a dumpling. Thin is crisp.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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