December 13, 2006

Made dinner in a blink....

thanks to convenient Korean Pa-Jeon mix packs *grin*I'm currently safe n sound in Ipoh; my hometown....It's been a long weekend for my family and I, its been too many hours sitting on my @55 in the car; traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore (6 hours)...Singapore back to KL (another 6 hours) and Kuala Lumpur back to Ipoh(...+ 2 hours). We took a quick break to stretch our legs at our KL condo. We stopped over at 8pm and dad gave us 30 minutes to pack our items, load the car and grab dinner before he drove us straight back to Ipoh that night.
While we were in Singapore, Sis brought us to a Korean+Chinese fusion restaurant which was famous for tasty and juicy Korean barbecue.
The beef ribs and bulgogi was absolutely sensational! I was blown away... The waitresses wore traditional Korean costumes, they served Ban chan (side dishes) and greeted us "Ahn Yong ha sa yo" when we came through the doors where expensive ginseng was displayed in glass shelves. Everything seemed pretty authentic..but after being recently exposed to so much Korean culture back in Sydney; there were a couple of tiny details which got me crossing my brows. LOL. They used wooden chopsticks instead of delicate Korean METAL ones~...I feel "Ban-chan" isn't banchan without the pretty pair of metal sticks. *fussy grin* Their banchan's weren't done very well... most likely because the dishes lacked fragrant Korean sesame oil...it just didn't taste or smell the same. They didn't make my favorite "Shi-Guem-Chi" seasoned spinach Banchan and Pa-Jeon (Korean pancake) very well and I was pretty dissapointed..I miss the home cooked Korean meals I used to have the luxury of having back in Sydney! *sniff*
I spotted a pack of Korean pancake mix while shopping at Carrefour and decided to purchase a pack and some chives home to make a better Pa-Jeon for my parents that evening.

10-15 large green banana prawns; marinated in a little salt and pepper for 5-10 minutes
3 large bunch chives chopped into 3 cm lengths (try using smaller, and younger bunches for a more authentic Korean pa-jeon)..these are pretty hard to find at our usual supermarkets2 cups Korean pancake flour mix
1/2 cup water
1 tsp white pepper
Add 1-2 chopped fresh chilies if you like (I didn't have any)
salt to taste (I didn't use any)
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with clean hands. Working the batter into a the leaves and prawns. Heat 1-2 tsp's of sesame oil in a medium sized frying pan and pan fry pancake mix in 3 batches; adding oil if necessary.Try not to omit the oil, as it helps give the pancake a crisp finish.
Flatten pancake onto the base of the pan and flip onto the other side when bottom is golden and crisp. Pan fry on both sides till pancake batter is cooked through. Use medium low heat.

The Pa-Jeon turned out very well...Dad agreed that it was lots better than the one we had at the restaurant. I undercooked the second pancake though...just out of carelessness; and my nature to be impatient *grin* hehe.. and like the typical Malaysians that we are...we drenched our pancakes in Maggi Chilli sauce ;)....MMmmmmm ~!*Licks lips*
Here's one I made sometime ago while I was in Sydney.

9 comments:

wheresmymind said...

Your dish looks FAB! So colorful

Anonymous said...

Welcome back to Malaysia, have a good holiday in Ipoh and a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you, (on going on leave from Monday onwards till the New Year :P )

laureen said...

Hey Su-Yin,

That place sounds great! Do you remember where exactly it's located and what the price range's like? Thanks and have a great holiday! =)

Anonymous said...

It's good to be home with family. Enjoy your holiday in Ipoh.

You are right..I always eat my Korean noodle with the metal chopstick and super long spoon.

OK...I will look for the pancake mix and make Pa-Jeon this weekend. Thanks for the recipe.

Lex said...

Hey if you ever come down to KL... let's meet up k? Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Hope you're enjoying your time back home and hope, looks like you've been busy.
Just a quick note thanking you agian for your lovely present. It kinda sounds weird but I kinda like baking in it!

Anonymous said...

Your style of pics is really fun. Great dish!

Anonymous said...

I'm a cooking freak myself but WOW. i just spent like 94028934 time looking at all your old post and i am SO jealous! you are SOO GOOD!
its very inspiring and gives me more energy to try out new things too.
keep it up!!!

Su-Yin -Décorateur said...

Thanks eveyrone for the kind comments. Jen: you're very welcome :)lol, im so happy you love the shirt...take a photo of yourself and email it to me ;) pretty please? :P hehehe

the coffeesnob: hmm...i dont rmeember the price tags...but the restaurant is on the same floor as the rest of the larger restaurants at takashimaya. The food was pretty affordable..and there was a long queue..try to make bookings before hand :)...so sorry bout being able to provide u with the name of the restaurant! LOL shouldn't be hard to find though.

lex: sure thing!

sophia: thanks :) XOXO