Crispy Scallion Pancake
Scallion Pancake, or 蔥油餅 in Chinese, is a popular street food and savory snack in China. If you have never tried it, it is addictively good! When done well, it is crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. The ingredients are ridiculously simple: flour, oil, and scallion. But the difference between a crispy and fluffy pancake, versus a soggy and dense dough, is all in the technique and simple tricks. Join the Scallion Pancake cooking class to learn all the secrets while Elaine shares fun family stories behind this dish.
This savory snack is best enjoyed fresh off the pan!
A few extra tips on the recipe:
When making the dough, it’s important to use cold water so the dough starts off quite wet but will stay soft and spongy. This is the opposite of what we want for the dumplings dough where we want the dough to be firmer and less sticky so they are easier to roll into individual wrappers.
The Chinese name, 蔥油餅, is literally translated as Scallion Oil Cake. As the name suggested, it takes a lot of oil to create the layers of the pancake, similar to puff pastry in western-style baking. And even more oil for the last part of the cooking in order to create the crust for the outer layer of the pancake. When done well, it doesn’t feel oily at all, just crunchiness on the outside and fluffiness on the inside.
Always start the cooking with a dry pan, i.e. with no additional oil.
This recipe calls for only 4g (~1/2 tsp) of salt which to me is the minimum amount of salt. But depending on your taste, you could add quite a bit more. Don’t judge me, but I usually make mine with almost 1.5 tsp of salt!
This snack can be enjoyed by itself or as the bread to serve with your meat or vegetable dishes. . I have seen my mom put her favorite Fermented Tofu on these pancakes, and also Hoisin Sauce. For me, I enjoy them with one or a mix of these sauces: Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp, Chinese Black Mature Vinegar, or Japanese Ponzu. The dough could feel a little heavy and filling, so all of these sauces help cut through that. The challenge is still to stop yourself from eating the whole pancake in one go!
These are just a few of my favorite sauces to enjoy.
Here’s the illustrated recipe. Scroll down for a text version of this same recipe.
Crispy Scallion Pancakes
(Same recipe but in text)
Prep to Serve: 1 hour
Cleanup: some work
Vegan
Freezes well (uncooked)
Makes 1 medium-sized pancake
Must have ingredients:
All Purpose Flour, 100g (1cup)
Cold Water, 70g (1/3 cup)
Salt, 4g (1/2 tsp)
Vegetable Oil, 2 TBSP
Finely Chopped Scallion, 1/3 Cup
Steps:
In a medium size bowl, mix flour with cold water into wet dough. With clean hands, knead dough gently on counter until smooth but not sticky. Cover with clean wet towel and rest for 20 min. TIP: Try not to add extra flour.
Meanwhile, finely chop scallion. Once dough is ready, roll the dough out on a lightly dusted counter until it's about 2mm (1/16") thick and a rough round shape.
Evenly spread oil, salt, and scallion on the dough. Roll into a cylinder. Pinch the ends to close. Gently twist the cylinder to create a screw-shape, then coil it into spiral while tucking the ends in.
Gently flatten spiral into 1cm (1/3") thick with your palm. If time allows, cover with a damp towel and let it rest for another 20 min. TIP: If making extra, freeze flat after resting, then store between parchment paper.
Using medium heat on a dry non-stick pan, brown one side of the pancake. Then flip, brown other side but with a lid on. Lift pancake with a spatula, forcefully slam it into the pan to break up layers. TIP: Slam when the dough is about 80% cooked.
Add oil to the pan and crisp up both sides of the pancake until it's cooked through. Cut into 8 sections and serve hot immediately. Reheat in oven or on a pan if cold.
It's okay:
To experiment and use other herbs like chive, shallots, or fresh thyme to create your own flavors.
To use flavored oil like toasted sesame oil or even lard (not vegan) for added flavors.
To skip the second resting on Step 4.
It's not okay:
To use hot water because it'll make the dough tougher.
To not rest the dough in Step 1 because it'll make the dough harder to roll.
To skip the slamming in Step 5 because the pancake will be dense rather than fluffy.
To slam the pancake with oil in the pan because it'll make the oil splash everywhere.
To slam the pancake when it's 100% cooked because it'll not form the layers.
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