Jeon(전) 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 various ingredients such as fish, meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetable, and be served as an appetizer, a banchan(side dish), or an anju(food served and eaten with drinks). Some jeon are sweet desserts; one such variety is called hwajeon(literally "flower jeon").
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(저냐), especially in Korean royal court cuisine context. Jeonya is sometimes called jeonyueo(전유어) or jeonyuhwa(전유화).
The variety of jeon made for jesa(ancestral rite) are called gannap(간납). Gannap are usually made of beef liver, omasum, or fish.
Types
Regardless of the type, almost all jeons are seasoned, coated with wheat flour and egg wash, and then pan-fried.
Meat
Jeon made of both 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(육전, "meat jeon") is a generic term for a variety of jeons made of meat.
Saengseon-jeon(생선전, "fish jeon") is a generic term for any jeon made of fish. White fish are usually preferred. Haemuljeon(해물전, "seafoodjeon") includes the jeons made of fish as well as shellfish, shrimps, and octopuses.
Daehajeon(대하전) – made of fleshy prawn.
Guljeon(굴전) – made of oysters. Called guljeonya(굴저냐) in Korean royal court cuisine.
Haesamjeon(해삼전) – made of dried and soaked sea cucumbers, usually with ground beef and crumbled tofu attached on them. Also called mwissam(뮈쌈).
Saeujeon(새우전) – made of peeled shrimp. Called saeujeonya(새우저냐) in Korean royal court cuisine.
Korean royal court cuisine
Baendaengijeonya(밴댕이저냐) – made of a whole sardinella.
Baengeojeonya(뱅어저냐) – made of multiple halved whitebaits
Bajirakjeonya(바지락저냐) – made of Manila clam.
Bangeojeonya(방어저냐) – made of salted and thinly sliced
Burejeonya(부레저냐) – made by stuffing the swim bladder of a croaker with croaker flesh and ground beef, then sealining and boiling it, and slicing it before coating it with wheat flour and egg wash and pan-frying it.
Sungeojeonya(숭어저냐) – made of thinly sliced mullet.
Yeoneojeonya(연어저냐) – made of thinly sliced salmon.
Vegetables and mushrooms
Chaesojeon(채소전, "vegetable jeon") is a generic term for any jeon made of vegetables.
Gamjajeon(감자전) – made of shredded potato. Also can be made of grated, squeezed potato with potato starch and vegetables added to it.
Pajeon(파전) – made of scallions. Dongnae pajeon is usually made of whole wakegi scallions. Seafood is added in haemulpajeon(literally "seafood pajeon").
Yeongeunjeonya(연근저냐) – made of grated and strained lotus root.
Flower
Hwajeon(화전, "flower jeon") is a generic term for any jeon made of edible flowers. Hwajeons are usually sweet, with honey as an ingredient. The jeon made of jujube is also sometimes called hwajeon.