Recipe from Peter Serpico
Adapted by Elyse Inamine
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- 4(371)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The chef Peter Serpico learned how to make hobak jeon, battered and fried slices of zucchini, by watching his mother-in-law cook. After her granddaughter was born, she would often trek from Queens, N.Y., armed with groceries and Korean recipes, to Mr. Serpico’s Philadelphia apartment. This recipe is inspired by her simple yet satisfying jeon and appears in “Learning Korean,” a cookbook chronicling Mr. Serpico’s journey with Korean food as an adoptee. There is one twist in his recipe: He adds a fish sauce to the batter, which gives the zucchini a salty depth. —Elyse Inamine
Featured in: Food Is Identity. For Korean Chefs Who Were Adopted, It’s Complicated.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings, as banchan or appetizer
- 2tablespoons soy sauce
- 2tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- ½teaspoon maple syrup
- ¼teaspoon gochugaru (Korean red-chile flakes)
- ¼teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced (white and light green parts)
- 1large Korean zucchini or 2 American zucchini (about ¾ pound), sliced into ½-inch-thick rounds
- 1teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 1large egg
- 1tablespoon fish sauce
- 1tablespoon vegetable oil
For the Dipping Sauce
For the Zucchini
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
76 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 818 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the dipping sauce: Whisk all ingredients in a bowl. This sauce will keep in the refrigerator in a covered container for 1 week.
Step
2
Prepare the zucchini: In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini and flour, ensuring each piece is lightly coated.
Step
3
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and fish sauce, making sure to break down the egg white.
Step
4
In a medium skillet or sauté pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, dip and coat the floured zucchini rounds in the egg batter, then add to the skillet and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes per side. Use a spatula to transfer finished zucchini rounds to a wire rack lined with paper towels.
Step
5
Serve as banchan or as an appetizer with the sauce. The zucchini can be enjoyed hot or at room temperature; cooked zucchini pieces can be held inside an oven set to warm.
Ratings
4
out of 5
371
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Cooking Notes
Mic,
Fantastic! A touch of Korean soul at the height of zucchini season. Served as a light supper with a side of rice and a sparkling wine. The recipe is perfect as written. The dipping sauce is just enough for the dish, but instead of dipping, we splashed it over the medallions. As always, saute timing depends on your stove. But light on the oil was correct. For me 4 minutes a side was perfect. For once I followed instructions and didn't crowd the pan and kept each batch warm in the stove. Yum!
Liz
There are vegetarian fish sauces made from seaweed--might be worth investigating!
Lan Sluder
Although not much flour is needed, one teaspoon for two "American" zucchinis borders on the ridiculous. You need at least one or two tablespoons of flour, and probably more.
Trishish
It looks like you coat the zucchini slices in just the flour, and then dip them in the egg+fish sauce.
Ian
My (Korean) wife uses "buchimgaru" (부침가루) to make hobak jeon. I looked at the ingredients and it contains no fish sauce (it does contain potato starch, salt, baking powder, onion powder and garlic powder). It shows up quickly in web searches, so this could be another alternative.
Brad
The cut zucchini are tossed in the flour (step 2) before being dipped in the egg batter (with no flour added)
es
I had to keep myself from devouring all the zucchini slices. The only change I made to the recipe was to use about about a teaspoon of Gochujang sauce instead of Korean chili flakes. This is a great appetizer.
Maddi
Would this work with egg whites instead of a whole egg?
Linda
Since the fish sauce adds a salty component, you could use vegetarian soy sauce.
Sarah
This was great! I used a bit more flour than called for, but probably didn’t need to. I added a little oil after each batch. After frying the zucchini, I fried some sliced okra in the same batter and method and they were wonderful as well!
Ian
Korean supermarkets will often sell "Korean zucchini" in addition to "regular" zucchini. It's a lighter color and a bit larger.
Brushjl
Super easy and delicious. I liked the light coating and the dipping sauce was excellent.
Steve
I had everything on hand so I whipped this up as a side for dinner. Easy and delicious. The zucchinis fry up so well and the sauce is perfect.
Maria
Have not made this yet. But, since I cannot stomach fish sauce, a good replacement is Worcestershire sauce for those who don’t or can’t eat fish sauce.
Mic
Delicious! Served as a lunch main course. Made as written except using red pepper flakes for the gochugaro, which I didn't have. The sauce is fantastic; the recipe is enough, but making more will be appreciated by your guests. Drizzling is logistically simpler than dipping.
Sarah — Indianapolis
Fantastic! Made as written except for sesame seeds (didn’t have) and 1t. Gochchang instead of red pepper flakes, per another cook’s note. Served with coconut rice and grilled shosh*to peppers—woohoo!Only two of us but one regular sized zucchini and the full recipe of sauce was perfect.
Deborah
I had half a zucchini I wanted to use up, and made this tonight to serve as a side dish with last night's left-over Caramelized Onion Galette (also from NYT C, and which was also excellent). I just wanted to share that we found these two dishes really tasty together!
Lee Ann Ufford
I had these (minus the fish sauce) at a lunch hosted by our Korean women’s association. They generously shared the recipe. Will try this version. But the simplicity belies how wonder these are. Basically slice zucchini 1/4 in thick, toss/dredge lightly in flour, dip in egg mix and fry in lightly oiled pan. I cut zucchini on an angle for larger pcs. Can dip in soy sauce if you want easier. I am hungry for these now!
Rheta
This is delicious- I used more oil than noted and more flour so the pieces were dry/lightly coated. A much lighter version than my usual fried zucchini recipe.
Zu Don't Need To Try This
Disclaimer: I'm new to cookingThinner slices would be better for me. It also tasted a bit too eggy for my taste,, almost like a zucchini omelette but not in a good way :/The sauce was p salty even though I only added 1 tbsp soy sauce. IF I made this again, I'd probs make the sauce sweeter with more maple syrupThanks for sharing though!
Jessica
A long time ago (1980s) I worked with a couple from Korea. The woman taught me how to make this. It was my absolute favorite and I made this weekly for years. Last night I made it using a “griller” squash from the garden. It’s a light green summer squash which is dense and not as watery as zucchini. Last night the two of us devoured an entire platter full. I wish I had remembered this before the frost!
es
I had to keep myself from devouring all the zucchini slices. The only change I made to the recipe was to use about about a teaspoon of Gochujang sauce instead of Korean chili flakes. This is a great appetizer.
Colleen
I got confused, dipped them in the egg batter, then in the flour (just read in the comments it's the other way around). They were still delicious, wonderful with the dipping sauce. Definitely making again.
Danny Getfat
Aside from the ingredient portions being awful, this is a great quick twist on classic fried zucchini.
Simple and tasty
Quick and easy recipe that tastes great, I made the sauce without sesame seeds (allergy) and it still tasted fantastic!
John
Korean vegetable tempura, sort of -- lacking the delicacy of tempura, but a lot easier to make. Though intended as an appetizer, it made a pretty good meal with some steamed rice and kimchi. More flour and a little more oil than the recipe calls for may be required. The fish sauce in the batter gives it a nice flavor, even without the dipping sauce.
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