Grilled & stir-fried · Busan
Haemul-pajeon (Seafood & Scallion Pancake)
haemul-pajeon
© Wikimedia Commons / Jinho Jung · CC BY-SA 3.0
When it rains in Korea, one combination fires automatically in everyone's head: pajeon and makgeolli. It's a pancake built on a bed of scallions, loaded with squid, shrimp and mussels, and shallow-fried in a generous slick of oil. Busan's Dongnae district has its own version, using whole scallions and finishing with beaten egg for a softer, wetter texture. The edges are always the crispiest part, so cut it with scissors the moment it lands and drink makgeolli alongside.
Live in Korea long enough and you develop an odd reflex: rain starts hammering the window and you suddenly want pajeon. The usual explanation is acoustic — raindrops hitting pavement sound remarkably like batter hitting hot oil, so the memory just surfaces on its own. People also point to humidity carrying frying smells further, and to low pressure dropping blood sugar and making starchy food appealing. What makes this more than a cute theory is the receipts: a Korean card company crunched its payment data and found that on days with 30–50mm of rainfall, sales at pajeon specialists ran 89% higher than on clear days. The crowded pancake shop on a rainy evening is a genuinely measurable phenomenon.
Within the broad pajeon family, the strongest regional identity belongs to Dongnae in Busan. Dongnae pajeon is said to have started in the late Joseon era as a quick bite for traders at the Dongnae market. It got popular enough that villagers nearby joked they went to Dongnae market for the pancake, not the shopping. It nearly disappeared in the early colonial period, then came back in the 1930s as drinking food at Dongnae taverns — and Dongnae Halmae Pajeon, which began from a market stall in that decade, still runs today. Worth knowing, though: Dongnae pajeon isn't documented in historical records but passed down orally, and it only became widely known after a 1990 project to rediscover local food traditions.
So the same words, 'haemul-pajeon,' can produce two quite different dishes depending on where you order. The standard version uses a thin batter of wheat flour cut with rice flour or starch, chopped scallions folded in, squid, shrimp and mussels on top, spread wide and shallow. The goal is crispness, so the batter stays thin and the oil stays generous. The Dongnae version lays whole uncut scallions side by side, pours over a thick batter of glutinous rice flour and wheat flour with clams, oysters, mussels and shellfish meat, then finishes by flooding the top with beaten egg. The result is soft and dense rather than crunchy — genuinely surprising if you arrived expecting a crisp pancake. Even the dip differs: most places serve vinegared soy sauce, but in Dongnae many serve a sweet-sour vinegared chili paste that leans into the seafood.
The setting is part of the dish too. Pajeon isn't really solo eating; it's drinking food, shared between two or three people pouring makgeolli from a kettle into wide bowls. In Busan the purist move is one of the old-school pancake houses around Dongnae, but if rain catches you on an evening walk near Gwangalli Beach, ducking into a nearby jeon place and eating with the sea outside the window is hardly a downgrade. Prices and hours vary widely, and long-running shops sometimes close early once ingredients run out, so if you're travelling across town it's worth checking before you go.
What comes with it
- Vinegared soy sauce (soy + vinegar + chili flakes) — the default dip that cuts the oily finish. Nearly every pancake house serves it.
- Vinegared chili paste — the Dongnae, Busan pairing. Its sweet-sour edge locks onto the seafood and makes the pancake taste like a different dish.
- Makgeolli or dongdongju — pajeon's official partner, brought out in a kettle and shared into wide bowls.
- Napa cabbage kimchi — alternate a bite of pancake with a bite of kimchi and the grease resets completely.
- Cheongyang chilies — sliced into the dipping sauce or laid on top for heat. The local way to dial back richness.
- Radish salad (musaengchae) — a crunchy, tart palate-cleanser to chew between pieces.
How to eat it
- 1Eat it the second it arrives. Jeon soaks up its own oil as it cools, so the first five minutes off the pan are the best it will ever be.
- 2Don't tear it with chopsticks — use the scissors on the table and cut it into wedges. Cutting keeps the seafood on top and the shape intact.
- 3Go for the edges first. The rim that touched the oil directly is the crispiest while the centre stays soft, so alternating between them keeps every bite interesting.
- 4Dip a corner lightly rather than drowning the piece. Batter that absorbs too much soy sauce turns salty and soggy fast.
- 5Makgeolli separates in the bottle, so shake it gently before pouring into the bowls. One bite of pancake, one sip — that's the local rhythm.
FAQ
How is Dongnae pajeon different from regular haemul-pajeon?
The standard version uses a thin batter of wheat flour with rice flour or starch, spread wide and fried crisp. Busan's Dongnae pajeon lays whole uncut scallions down first, pours over a thick glutinous-rice batter with clams, oysters and mussels, then floods the top with beaten egg. The result is soft and dense rather than crunchy, and many Dongnae shops serve vinegared chili paste instead of vinegared soy sauce.
Why do Koreans eat pajeon with makgeolli when it rains?
The most popular explanation is acoustic: rain hitting the ground sounds like batter hitting hot oil, so the association triggers the craving. Others cite humidity carrying frying smells further, or low pressure dropping blood sugar and making starchy food appealing. It shows up in the data too — one card company found that on days with 30–50mm of rain, sales at pajeon specialists were 89% higher than on clear days.
Where should I eat haemul-pajeon in Busan?
For the traditional version, the old pancake houses around Dongnae are the benchmark — one that started from a Dongnae market stall in the 1930s is still operating. If rain catches you during an evening walk near Gwangalli Beach, a jeon place nearby is a perfectly good call too. Prices and hours vary a lot and some long-running shops close early once ingredients run out, so check before making the trip.
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