Pan-fried perilla leaves with fillings

Kkaennip-jeon 깻잎전

Today’s recipe, Kkaennip-jeon (pan-fried perilla leaves with fillings), is a fast, fun, and light savory side dish. If you like perilla leaves (kkaennip: 깻잎), you will love this dish: the egg batter makes the lightly minty leaves a little crispy, and the juicy, savory, beef patty fillings go well with them too.

This recipe is a type of jeon, or pancake, of which there are many in Korean food. If you can’t get perilla leaves, kale works well for this recipe. Just be sure to cut the leaves into something closer to kkaennip size, about 2½ to 3 inches long from the leafy end of the leaves.

Even if you love meat, you should only use a thin layer of beef in these jeon, otherwise they will be too thick and will take too long to cook. When it’s thin, it cooks fast and the egg gets golden brown, never overcooked and burnt. They look gorgeous on the table!

kkaennip-jeon

Ingredients

  • 15 medium size perilla leaves (kkaennip), washed and strained
  • 8 ounces ground beef (or ground pork)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 eggs, beaten with a pinch of kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • vegetable oil

For the dipping sauce:

Directions

  1. Combine beef, garlic, green onion, and onion in a bowl. Add soy sauce, sugar (if you use), ground black pepper, and toasted sesame oil. Mix it by hand until it’s well incorporated and turns into a sticky lump. Cover and keep in the fridge until we’re ready to use it.perilla leaf pancake mixturekkaennip-jeon meat
  2. Strain the beaten egg through a mesh strainer over a bowl. Let it sit on the counter until we’re ready to use it.
  3. Put flour on a cutting board and one by one, press both sides of each leaf into the flour to coat.perilla leaves coat
  4. Take the meat out of the refrigerator. Unwrap and put about 1 tablespoon  meat mixture into the inside of a leaf, thinly covering one half of it. Fold the leaf over to make a packet. Repeat with the rest of the perilla leaves and the meat mixture.kkaennip-jeon packets

Pan-frying:

  1. Heat up a large non-stick skillet with some vegetable oil over medium heat. Take a packet and dip into the egg so it’s totally covered, and place it onto the skillet. Add more packets until the skillet is full, but the packets aren’t crowding each other.
  2. Cook for a few minutes until lightly crisp, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook another one or two minutes until the other side is lightly crisp. Add more oil if necessary. Flip and cook another minute or two minutes until both sides are crisp.
  3. Remove from the heat. If you need to cook in batches, clean the pan with a paper towel before re-oiling and cooking the next batch.kkaennip-jeon

Serve with dipping sauce:

  1. Make the dipping sauce by combining all the dipping sauce ingredients and mixing well. You can garnish with a few bits of chopped green onion. dipping sauce
  2. Serve together. To eat, dip a pan-fried perilla leaf into the sauce and eat.

Posted on Tuesday, August 15th, 2017 at 9:06 pm. Last updated on August 11, 2021.
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14 Comments:

  1. LiljaS Iceland joined 3/18 & has 16 comments
    Posted May 27th, 2019 at 5:57 am | or create a profile.

    Yum yum yum! I’m growing Perilla plants in my window sill so now I have a LOT of them. This recipe was so easy and sooooo good. I’m definitely making this again.


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  2. Mrhycannon Kentucky, USA joined 9/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted September 17th, 2018 at 4:04 pm | or create a profile.

    Amazon has these seeds.. Looks really scrumptious..
    I batter and fry poke leaves.. Until now I never thought to fill them.. Thanks so much for the recipe.. Can’t wait to try it..
    I have unlimited green perilla but have trouble raising enough of the red I treat them both the same.. Any suggestions.?

  3. Phelpsrs Michigan joined 12/17 & has 4 comments
    Posted December 29th, 2017 at 5:49 pm | or create a profile.

    So happy


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  4. khahnh Vietnam joined 11/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 20th, 2017 at 3:45 am | or create a profile.

    Maangchi-nim, can I use sweet potato starch in case my kitchen is no longer available flour? Thank you❤️

  5. bertman4 Seattle, WA joined 10/17 & has 10 comments
    Posted October 13th, 2017 at 1:01 am | or create a profile.

    First time making this but my friend who has been to Korea and eaten kkaennip-jeon there said it was just as good. Very easy to make and so delicious!


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  6. Bunny Walkertown NC joined 8/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 24th, 2017 at 2:44 am | or create a profile.

    I bought perilla leaves seeds on eBay. Received 100 seeds for less than $3.
    I believe 90% sprouted because I have loads of perilla leaves. Great recipe. Will also make your kimchi.

  7. beckaivans joined 10/15 & has 21 comments
    Posted August 21st, 2017 at 5:46 pm | or create a profile.

    These are awesome! My boyfriend and I decided to have a “jeon party” just for fun, and fried up lots of different kinds of pancakes to serve with beer. I made these for the first time and they were great! The contrast between the crispy leaf and the juicy meet filling is delicious and we hadn’t had anything like it before. Thank you Maangchi!!!

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
      Posted August 23rd, 2017 at 11:28 am | or create a profile.

      “crispy leaf and the juicy meet filling is delicious and we hadn’t had anything like it before”

      You got it exactly right! That’s the unique taste of kkaennip-jeon! Jeon and beer sounds like a great party! : )

  8. Ermin Fei Indonesia joined 2/15 & has 32 comments
    Posted August 17th, 2017 at 10:23 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi ssi.. I have been making kkaennip-jeon a few times already.. however, i am making the vegetarion version.. so instead of meat, i am using tofu (squeeze out the water), chopped carrots, spring onion, and onion.. they are really easy to make and are loved by youngs and olds in my family.. ^^
    I would like to grow the kkaennip in my garden, but i don’t know where to get the seeds here in Indonesia..
    I would probably have to ask my husband to buy the seeds from Korea some day
    Thanks again for the great recipe.. i will make a trial using meat as per your recipe

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
      Posted August 23rd, 2017 at 11:15 am | or create a profile.

      Thank you for sharing your tofu filling idea! I hope my vegetarian readers see these tips!

      Getting the seeds from Korea is a good idea. They sell them everywhere there, but you can also ask the Korean grocery store in your area if you can buy seeds.

      Happy cooking!

  9. Liyana Stavanger, Norway joined 4/16 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 15th, 2017 at 9:50 pm | or create a profile.

    If there is no Korean shop nearby, Perilla is also called Shiso in Japanese. I find it as Shiso here in Norway, though it’s usually a type with red color in the leaves, not as bright green.

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