Have you ever considered the scallion pancake?
It is not your mama’s Sunday morning pancake that’s for sure. No maple syrup required. The Chinese Scallion Pancake is rolled out into tubes filled with green onion paste, then twirled into pinwheels, then rolled again, before a final fry in hot oil. The end result is both flaky and chewy simultaneously. A recipe that is definitely worth making at home – if only to bite into a fresh homemade Chinese Scallion Pancake (葱油饼) once in your life. And what better time to do it than the end of January?
This is how you beat winter. You eat delicious things that require some time in the kitchen. You force yourself out of the usual rotation of dishes being churned out on autopilot and you try something new and exciting and divine.
all photos courtesy of Maggie Zhu and Omnivore’s Cookbook
The best way to start is with a great recipe and we’ve got it. Maggie Zhu’s Omnivore’s Cookbook is the best source for authentic, well written and deeply thorough recipes. We highly recommend her book, Chinese Homestyle.
We’re just listing the ingredients below. Once you’ve assembled all your ingredients you can find the full recipe and instructions here. It’s a very comprehensive walk through, for a simple preparation that nevertheless has a lot of steps. Read it through before you begin. And don’t worry if it seems like a lot, it’s not once you’ve done it. And the taste? Like nothing you’ve ever had before.
Ingredients
Dough
2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup cool water
Filling
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (50 g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup peanut oil (or your favorite oil like olive oil, melted coconut oil, melted butter, or melted chicken fat etc.)
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 to 10 green onions , split down the middle and chopped (yield 1 cup)
Cooking
Vegetable oil for pan frying
Dipping Sauce (Optional)
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar (or rice vinegar)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
