Korean · appetizer

Dongtae Jeon (Pan-Fried Pollack in Egg Batter)

Name: Dongtae Jeon (Pan-Fried Pollack in Egg Batter)
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: pollack fillets — 500 g; salt — 5 g; ground white pepper — 1 g; rice wine — 11 g; all-purpose flour — 60 g; eggs — 150 g; oil — 55 g; red chile pepper — 15 g; scallions — 30 g; soy sauce — 30 g; rice wine vinegar — 11 g; sugar — 4 g; sesame seeds — 5 g

Dongtae Jeon (Pan-Fried Pollack in Egg Batter) reads umami 6.0, salinity 5.4 and richness 4.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Korean appetizer, about 30 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 6.9 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 4.5 / 10
Sour & Bright — 3.7 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.0 / 10
Rich & Fat — 5.6 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 2.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.0 · Salinity 5.4 · Richness 4.9 · Sweetness 4.2 · Sourness 3.5 · Funk & Ferment 3.2 · Nutty 2.3 · Herbaceous 2.2 · Allium 1.7 · Heat 1.6 · Warm Spice 1.0 · Earthy 0.9 · Bitterness 0.8 · Floral 0.8 · Fruity 0.8 · Marine & Briny 0.8

What's in it (13)

pollack fillets — 500 g
salt — 5 g
ground white pepper — 1 g
rice wine — 11 g
all-purpose flour — 60 g
eggs — 150 g
oil — 55 g
red chile pepper — 15 g
scallions — 30 g
soy sauce — 30 g
rice wine vinegar — 11 g
sugar — 4 g
sesame seeds — 5 g

Time & effort: about 30 min · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 120.8 kcal, 3.5 g protein, 8.7 g fat, 7.4 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

Pat the fish slices thoroughly dry with kitchen paper, season them with the salt, white pepper and rice wine, and leave 15 minutes. Then blot them dry again. Jeon is a shallow fry with almost no coating, and a wet surface makes the flour slide off and the egg refuse to stick.
Dredge each slice in flour and shake it hard so only a bare film remains. A thick flour coat gives you a fritter; jeon should look like fish wearing a yellow blanket, with the shape of the fillet still visible.
Heat a wide frying pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Dip each floured slice into the beaten egg, let the excess run off for a second, and lay it in the pan. Do not crowd them.
Press a ring of red chile and a ring of scallion green onto the top of each piece while the underside cooks; they set into the egg and are the traditional decoration on a plate of jeon, not a garnish added later.
Fry 2 minutes on the first side, until the egg is set and pale gold with no brown at all, then turn and give the second side 1 to 2 minutes. Jeon should never take colour beyond gold; browned egg tastes of the pan. Add oil between batches and wipe the pan if any egg catches.
Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and sesame seeds for dipping. Serve warm or at room temperature. Jeon of every kind is the food of ancestral memorial rites and of the lunar New Year table, made in quantity the day before, and pollack is the fish most used for it.
Substitutions: soju can stand in for the rice wine.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Skillet Kung Pao Chicken — Chinese-American
General Tso's Chicken — Chinese-American
Vegetable Pad See Ew with Crispy Tofu — Thai
General Tso's Cauliflower — Chinese-American
Longganisa (Filipino Pork Sausage) — Filipino

Keep reading: what umami, salinity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.