Jeon (food)


Jeon refers to a dish made by seasoning whole, sliced, or minced fish, meat, vegetables, etc., and coating them with wheat flour and egg wash before frying them in oil. Jeon can be made with ingredients such as fish, meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetable, and be served as an appetizer, a banchan, or an anju. Some jeon are sweet desserts; one such variety is called hwajeon.

Names

Although jeon can be considered a type of buchimgae in a wider sense, buchimgae and jeon are different dishes.
Jeon can also be called jeonya, especially in Korean royal court cuisine context. Jeonya is sometimes called jeonyueo or jeonyuhwa .
The variety of jeon made for jesa are called gannap. Gannap are usually made of beef liver, omasum, or fish.

Types

Almost all jeons are seasoned, coated with wheat flour and egg wash, and then pan-fried.

Meat

Jeon made of red meat and poultry were used extensively in Korean royal court cuisine, while the food for ordinary folks tends to have some vegetable added to them. Yukjeon is a generic term for a variety of jeon made of meat.
Saengseon-jeon is a generic term for any jeon made of fish. White fish are usually preferred. Haemul-jeon includes the jeon made of fish as well as shellfish, shrimps, and octopuses.
Chaeso-jeon is a generic term for any jeon made of vegetables.
Hwajeon is a generic term for any jeon made of edible flowers. Hwajeons are usually sweet, with honey as an ingredient. Jeon made of jujube is sometimes called hwajeon.