Steaming squid before making squid pancakes results in a crispy exterior and chewy interior

Squid pancakes (ojingeo-jeon), one of the holiday foods, often suffer from the batter becoming soggy or oil splashing due to moisture being released during the cooking process. According to the Kim Dae-seok Chef TV video, if you steam the squid beforehand instead of slicing it raw, you can achieve a texture that is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

The '1 minute 30 seconds' rule to remove squid smell and make preparation easier

The most important step when making squid pancakes is the process of pre-cooking the squid. According to the recipe in the video, after preparing the squid, coat it with one spoonful of flour, place it in a pot, and drizzle one swirl of Mirim around it. Mirim serves to remove the fishy smell of the squid. If you close the lid and steam it over a gas flame for 1 minute 30 seconds, the squid will cook to a bouncy texture.

Steaming the squid this way offers two advantages. First, it reduces the difficult knife work involved in slicing raw squid. Second, using cooked squid makes it easier to control the moisture of the batter. The body of the steamed squid should be split in half and finely sliced, while the legs should be scored and cut into individual strands or the head part should be minced. At this time, do not discard the liquid that came out while steaming the squid; use it in the batter.

Ingredient ratio and cooking sequence for making a chewy batter without water

The consistency of the batter is key to determining the crispiness of the squid pancakes. In the video, instead of adding separate water, the viscosity of the batter is adjusted using the moisture released from the steamed squid and 2 eggs. To this, add 5 spoonfuls of potato starch and 3 spoonfuls of frying powder. The frying powder plays a role in adding a crispy texture when frying the pancakes.

For additional ingredients, prepare 1/4 of a shredded onion, 2 stalks of chopped green parts of green onions, 2 Cheongyang chili peppers, and 1 red chili pepper. Season with 1/3 spoonful of salt, 1 spoonful of soup soy sauce, and 2 pinches of black pepper. When all the prepared ingredients are mixed, a batter that is chewy rather than watery is completed. Caution is required as the texture will decrease if the batter is too watery.

When cooking, do not make large pancakes in a pan with cooking oil; instead, scoop one spoonful at a time and place them in appropriate sizes. After frying both sides until golden brown, place them on a paper towel to remove excess oil, and the squid pancakes with a crispy exterior and chewy interior are complete.