Ramp Pa Jun

After reading this recipe for pa jun (savory Korean pancakes) to my mom yesterday, I decided that I needed to make them myself. For whatever reason, these babies are ridiculously expensive in Koreatown (you want me to pay $10+ for flour, egg, water, and kimchi?), and I've been completely convinced that this is one of those things that I'll be able to figure out and put on regular rotation at home. Heck, I've made a more-than-acceptable version of bulgogi (Korean barbecue), so why not pa jun?

I had no kimchi on hand, alas, but did have a fridge bursting with ramps. I was running low on flour, so I only made a half-recipe based on the Times link above, replacing all of the vegetables with 12 roughly-chopped ramps (no shrimp, either).

They turned out all right--if not a little bland--but pairing them with a dipping sauce made from soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and lots of chili brought things up to snuff. These pa jun weren't as wonderful as the ones in Koreatown, but frankly, methinks they use lots of oil in the frying pan, so they're essentially deep-fried. Next time I'll up the ante in the batter somehow, which will hopefully make up for me trying to be a little healthy...