Once upon a time there lived a young frog boy named “Blue”.
They called him “Blue” because he was a very unusual blue frog.
Blue lived with his mother in a small cottage near a little stream deep in the mountain of South Korea.
His mother loved him very much and did the best she could to teach him, so that he could grow up to be well mannered and respectful. But alas! Blue was not the most obedient boy you can imagine. In fact he was quite rebellious and often showed the contrary behaviors.
If his mother asked him to clean the mess in his room, he would make even bigger mess. When she asked him to not to go to the dangerous part of village where the snake lives, he would head down there right away. Blue thought he was so courageous and smart.
All of his misbehavior made his mother worried. Very worried that she got ill.
The doctor came to help but didn’t know how to cure. Blue’s mother felt that she would die soon leaving her young son behind. She tried to explain the situation to Blue but he wasn’t willing to listen.
She realized that her son wouldn’t change his contrary behaviors, so she decided to ask him contrary to what she desired.
She wanted to be buried on the hillside but knowing her son, he would do exactly the opposite way; if she asked him to bury her on the hill, Blue would bury her on the side of the stream. So she asked him the opposite way, “Son, when I die…, please, bury my body near the stream. NOT on the HILL…”
A few days later his mother died.
Upon his mother’s death, Blue finally realized that he had been foolish, and regretted for being so disobedient.
So, for the first time in his life, he decided to obey his mother’s wish. He buried her near the stream!
Then, the rain came down on the next day. The water in the stream overflowed and washed his mother’s grave away. Blue couldn’t help but crying as he watched his mother’s grave floating away from him. It was just too late for him to take it back.
Since that day, whenever it rains in Korea, you can hear the frog’s loud crying noise near any streams.
“Ribbit.., ribbit..,”
This is a one of the Korean folk tales that I told my kids as a bedtime story when they were young.
My daughter cried when she first heard it. She was 5 years old. This story helped her to understand the importance of being trust worthy.
So what does this story has to do with green onion pancakes?
Well, when there’s rain, Koreans like to eat this types of savory pancakes and talk about the blue frog.
This is the story that I heard from my mother, and she heard it from her mother, and so on…
This is a very easy to make savory pancakes with only a few ingredients.
The recipe will give quite nice crisp texture to the bite which we all love.
I used small shrimps but any seafood will work fine, or omit if you prefer it as vegan.
Mix cake flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.
You can use plain flour but cake flour will create the crispier texture.
Add ice cold water to the flour mix and stir.
Add one egg and whisk until combined. Do not over whisk.
The batter should be thin like breakfast pancake batter.
Add green onion, red chili, and shrimp.
Toss to wet all the ingredients.
Heat generous amount of oil in the skillet over medium heat, spread about 1/4 cups of batter and let it sear for 3-4 minutes.
Flip it over. Do you see the golden crust? It is quite crisp. Continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes to the other side.
Flip again to see what the other side looks like. Nicely browned!
You might need to adjust the heat level from medium to med-low.
Make dipping sauce by combining all the ingredients.
Serve your pancakes hot with this dipping sauce.
… a little food for thought of the day.
Ingredients
- 200g (7oz) small shrimps, peeled and cleaned
- 1 bunch green onion, cut into 2" long slices
- 1-2 red chilies, thinly sliced (optional)
- 1 1/4 cup cake flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- pinches of kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoon or more ice water
- 1 egg
- 2-4 tablespoon grape seed or canola oil
- 2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1-2 teaspoon Korean chili flakes (optional)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, crushed with fingers
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add water and egg, and whisk until just combined. The consistency of batter should be like breakfast batter. Add more water if batter seems too stiff.
- Add the green onions and shrimps to the bowl, toss well to coat.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat, add 1/4 cupful of batter to the skillet and spread out thinly. Sear the pancakes 3-4 minutes until the edges seems to form a crust, flip to the other side.
- Add more oil if the skillet seems dry. You should see the golden brown crust. Sear the other side of pancakes for another 3 minutes until golden as well.
- You might need to adjust the heat to med-low in order not to burn the pancakes.
- Serve hot with dipping sauce.
I have been wanting to make a crispy Korean pancake, now you just reminded me to try it! It looks great for breakfast in my eyes. Too bad I didn't have it yesterday it rained here. :)
Your green onion pancakes look so delicious - your photos are gorgeous and I love how you put step by step photos (large and nice) in the post too. So fun to follow you cook. Nice to meet you!
~Mo
www.mokekumileicreations.com
I have a recipe for scallion pancakes that calls for a little rice flour and more regular flour. The rice flour is supposed to make it crispy. I think it works but do you think I can put more rice flour in than the regular flour and still have it come out?
Thanks!,
lisa
and i vaguely remember this story. maybe because my brother and i were like blue when we were little kids. :-) i think it's time to tell my kids!
love your website and photos!
Actually rice flour is to get a chewy texture not crisp. If you want crispier but doesn't have cake flour, add about 2-3 tablespoon of cornstarch to plain flour with a tiny pinch baking powder.The baking powder will leaven the batter slightly and help create the crisp texture
My daughter used to love the story called, "The contrary Mary" and, to some degree, it was great for children to come up with creative ideas to be contrary I think. I never heard of the version of frog jumping into stream. That is even more sad.
time I visit here. I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially
its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I am not
the only one having all the enjoyment here keep up the good work.
Thank You
I love your blog a lot! I've started a blog myself and you're a huge inspiration.
Thanks
Mabel
mdcooksfor2.blogspot.com
Yes, you can add the rice flour if you like the chewy texture. I tried and I prefer without it in the savory pancakes. I just love the crispness that cake flour adds.
Thanks for you sweet comment. Blogging is fun and wish you the best with your brand new blog.