Sanjeokjeon is one of my favorite jeons to eat. It’s typically made with colorful ingredients pierced with toothpicks to keep them in shape. You can make this jeon with anything, but popular ingredients include imitation crabs, scallions, mushrooms, ham, beef, and more. It’s one of the most popular options for jeons, especially during the Chuseok, the Korean mid-autumn harvest festival.

Typically, it takes a while to make sanjeokjeon. You cut the ingredients in uniform first, pierce them with toothpicks, coat them in egg wash, cook, and repeat, which is a lot of labor for one savory pancake. So, I’m applying a sheet pan method to make this without fuss. And, in less than 30 minutes, you have beautifully arranged sanjeokjeon, all made in a sheet pan, ready for your Chuseok celebrations! They are delicious without anything but even better paired with a chili crisp and cold makgeoli!

Serves: 4 to 6
Yield: 2 quarter sheet pans
Total cook time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 425°F.
2. Meanwhile, prepare all your ingredients. Cut your Korean chives to the same length as your quarter sheet pan. Take the crab sticks out of the plastic package. Cut the bottom of the enoki mushrooms vertically to keep their long shape. Trim the excess parts of the scallions to fit them into a size quarter sheet pan. If the white parts of the scallions are too thick, cut them in half. Separate the stripes of ham into individual pieces.
3. Add half a tablespoon of the canola oil to the quarter sheet pan, and using a brush, cover the pan with oil. Do the same to the other quarter sheet pan.
4. Heat the oiled sheet pans in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup, whisk 6 large eggs. Season them with 1 teaspoon salt. Whisk them together until there are no white parts. In a separate small bowl, mix 2 teaspoons of potato starch and 1 tablespoon of water to make starchy water. Pour the starchy water into the egg mixture and whisk more to fully incorporate.
6. Take out the hot sheet pans from the oven, and pour a little bit of the egg mixture into the hot sheet pan, about 1 tablespoon. Using oven mitts, carefully grab the sheet pan and swirl it around so that the egg mixture coats the pan as much as possible.
7. Arrange all the ingredients into the quarter sheet pan with different ingredients to fill it up. Make sure there’s not too much gap between each layer of ingredients.
8. Once your quarter sheet pan is covered with ingredients, pour more egg wash over the ingredients, making sure it touches and covers all the layered ingredients in a sheet pan.
9. Bake it in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes until the eggs are fully cooked.
10. Take them out of the oven, and cool down for 1 minute. Lift the pancakes with a flexible spatula and slide them to the cutting board. Cut them into bite-size squares.
11. Serve them with a side of chili crisp, or your favorite dipping sauce, and makgeoli.
    
    

- James Park