Pan Fried Zucchini (Hobak Jeon)

Pan Fried Zucchini (Hobak Jeon) is an easy and delicious Korean side dish.

Thin zucchini slices are coated in flour and eggs, then pan fried until golden brown and crispy.

Even if it’s your first time trying to make pan fried zucchini, by following this easy recipe, you can make this dish with its classic savory and sour sauce within 27 minutes!

Korean Pan Fried Zucchini (Hobak Jeon)

To me, pan fried zucchini is also a super satisfying and relevantly healthy option (comparing with instant ramen noodles or chocolate cake) of my midnight snack.

I first heard about this dish from a Korean variety show called “We Got Married”. My favorite “couple” on this show was Nichkhun & Victoria! ❤

Once they cooked Korean pan fired zucchini and kimchi fried rice together at home. It was just so fun to watch a Thai “husband” and a Chinese “wife” cooking Korean dishes together.

Look how this zucchini recipe is popular worldwide!

After watching that episode, I immediately added “cooking pan fried zucchini with my boyfriend” on my to do list.

How to make Korean Pan Fried Zucchini

Equipment

• A skillet

Ingredients

• 1 large zucchini (mine was about 380g)
• ½ tsp salt
• ⅓ cup all purpose flour
• 1 extra large egg
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup neutral cooking oil (I used vegetable oil)

Dipping Sauce

• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• ½ tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp sesame oil (optional)
• ½ tsp roasted sesame seeds (optional)
• ¼ tsp Korean chili pepper powder (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Cut a zucchini into 5mm-thick slices.

2. Place the sliced zucchini on a large plate or a baking pan. Evenly sprinkle ¼ tsp of salt over the zucchini, flip each piece of the zucchini, then sprinkle another ¼ tsp of salt over the zucchini. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.

3. Make a sauce by mixing all the “dipping sauce” ingredients in a small bowl.

4. Use a kitchen towel to wipe of the moisture on the surface of the zucchini.

5. Place the wiped zucchini and ⅓ cup of flour into a food storage bag. Zip lock the bag or tightly hold the open end of the bag, shake the bag until every piece of the zucchini has been evenly coated with flour.

6. Beat 1 egg. Add ¼ cup of cooking oil to a skillet, turn on heat to “medium“.

7. Dip a slice of the floured zucchini into the egg, flip the zucchini to make sure that both sides of the zucchini are evenly coated with the egg, put it in the skillet. Repeat with the remaining zucchini pieces, until the skillet is full.

8. Pan fry the zucchini over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the bottom side turns golden brown. You can always lift a piece of the zucchini with a pair of chopsticks to check the color on its bottom side.

9. Once you are ready to flip the zucchini pieces, turn heat to “medium low“, because the skillet and the cooking oil is hot enough at this point of the time. Flip the zucchini, pan fry over medium low heat for another 1-2 minutes until both sides of the zucchini turn golden brown.

10. Transfer pan fried zucchini tօ a kitchen towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.

11. Repeat the process with the rest of the zucchini pieces until all of them are cooked. Transfer to a plate and serve with dipping sauce.

Pan Fried Zucchini Trouble Shooting

1. How to avoid soggy zucchini

Why does my zucchini get so wet after cooked?

It’s because zucchinis are made up of around 95% water, which is higher than watermelons’ water amount 92%.

There are 2 methods to prevent zucchini from being soggy and mushy after cooked.

1. Marinate with salt

Slice the zucchini, sprinkle the cut surfaces with salt (1/2 tsp of salt is enough for one large zucchini), wait for 10 to 15 minutes, then you will be able to see that all the zucchini slices are “sweating”. Then simply dry them up using a kitchen towel before cooking.

2. Shorten the cooking time

When you pan fry the zucchini for too long, the core part of the zucchini will get steamed and start to release water.

The egg flour layer will get golden brown fast. We don’t need to cook through the zucchini, because it is actually safe and healthy to eat raw zucchini.

Therefore, I only pan fry each side of the zucchini slices over medium to medium low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, while most other recipes would suggest for 3-5 minutes on each side.

2. Pan Fried Zucchini Turns Too Dark Fast

Firstly, you will want to make sure that you are not pan frying it for too long. Pan fry each side for 1-2 minutes over medium low to medium heat is way enough for the coating to get golden brown.

Secondly, you may want to change the oil after cooking 2 batches of the zucchini.

My skillet wasn’t big enough for me to pan fry all the zucchini slices at one batch. I ended up cooked 1 large zucchini in 4 batches.

This was how the cooking oil looked like after frying 2 batches of the zucchini slices:

Once the oil turns brown, it will affect the looking and the taste of the food, and it could be unhealthy to consume. Therefore, I’d recommend you to  change the cooking oil after the second batch is done.

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