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PFB #2 - Classic Chinese Scallion Pancakes

Sliced Scallions

And then there were 400.  My first entry on Project Food Blog was judged good enough to advance to the next challenge, The Classics.  If you haven’t already, you can see my contest profile here.  The contestants are supposed to make a classic dish from a culture other than their own, that they are not familiar with cooking.  Most people would have planned out their contest entries, but that is not the way I work.  Whenever I plan ahead, the Universe laughs at me for thinking I actually have some control over things!  That control thing ended when I gave birth.

I love all Asian foods, from Chinese to Japanese to Korean and Indonesian and Thai.  Maybe because my last name is Lee? In college I always used to get invited to the Asian Alliance meetings, until I showed up one day!  Jaws dropped, laughing ensued, no more invitations sent.  I decided to make one of my favorite things to eat when I go to a good Chinese restaurant, scallion pancakes.  Who does not love fried dough of one sort or another?  Every culture has a version of fried dough,  either sweet or savory, deep fried or pan fried, filled or plain.  And let’s be honest, you have most people’s attention at the word fried.

Scallion pancakes require few ingredients, but do require time and technique.  While I love to eat them, I do not make them.  Ever.  I needed to do some serious research, and fast!  I looked around the internet and found a few posts on making scallion pancakes, some with pictures, some with easy to follow directions and some that just confused me!  From all those posts I reached a happy medium, and came up with a recipe to work with.

Scallion pancakes make a great party appetizer when served with a dipping sauce.  They can be made ahead, wrapped in foil and heated up in the oven. Or try them as an after school snack for the kids. For the big kids such as myself, serve them with a cold beer.

Scallion Pancakes

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Classic Chinese Scallion Pancakes
by Cheryl D Lee September-26-2010
With just a few ingredients you can make these savory, scallion filled pancakes that are great for snacking, or as an appetizer.
Ingredients
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup very hot water
  • 2 tablespoons + more for frying vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • kosher salt
  • 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
Instructions
Place the flour into a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.  With the machine running, add the water slowly, until the dough is formed.Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Have extra flour on the board in reach in case it is needed.
Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and soft.Place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth for 30 minutes. Combine 2 TB of vegetable oil with the sesame oil.  Place the sliced scallions and salt (separately) into small bowlsCut the dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.  One at  time roll out a piece of dough.Brush the dough lightly with the combined oils, sprinkle generously with salt and about a tablespoon of scallions.Carefully roll the dough up like a cigar or rug. Curl the cigar shaped dough into a spiral, like a snail shell, then press down lightly with your palm. Roll out the spiral until it is about 1/8 inch thick.  Repeat with the remaining dough, oil, salt and scallions.Heat a large (10-12 inch) skillet over medium high heat, then coat the bottom with vegetable oil.  Fry the pancakes for  3-4 minutes, until golden brown.  Flip the pancake and cook the other side until it is golden brown. Repeat with the remaining pancakes.Place the pancakes onto a plate lined with a paper towel to drain any oil.  Cut each pancake into six pieces and serve with our favorite dipping sauce.
Details

Prep time: 40 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 6 pancakes

Pancake Dough Before Kneading

Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and soft. ( I was taught that when dough is properly kneaded it should feel like a babies butt.)


Pancake Dough After Kneading

Place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth for 30 minutes. Combine 2 TB of vegetable oil with the sesame oil.  Place the sliced scallions and salt (separately) into small bowls.

Oil, Kosher Salt and Sliced Scallions

Cut the dough into 6 pieces.

Dough Cut Into Six Pieces

Roll each piece into a ball.  One at  time roll out a piece of dough.

First Rolling Out of Pancake Dough

Brush the dough lightly with the combined oils, sprinkle generously with salt and about a tablespoon of scallions.

Dough with Oil, Kosher Salt and Sliced Scallions

Carefully roll the dough up like a cigar or rug.

Roll Up the Pancake Like a Cigar

Curl the cigar shaped dough into a spiral, like a snail shell, then press down lightly with your palm.

Scallion Pancake Rolled into A Spiral

Roll out the spiral until it is about 1/8 inch thick.  Repeat with the remaining dough, oil, salt and scallions.

Scallion Pancake After Final Rolling Out

Heat a large (10-12 inch) skillet over medium high heat, then coat the bottom with vegetable oil.  Fry the pancakes for  3-4 minutes, until golden brown.  Flip the pancake and cook the other side until it is golden brown. Repeat with the remaining pancakes.

Frying the Scallion Pancake

Place the pancakes onto a plate lined with a paper towel to drain any oil.  Cut each pancake into six pieces and serve with our favorite dipping sauce.

Scallion Pancakes

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista

Comments

  1. I have never frozen the dough, so I am not sure. But I don’t see why you couldn’t freeze it. Just wrap it well. Let me know how it works if you do freeze some of the dough.

  2. Mary, I have never made the dough in a bread machine, so I cannot say if it will work. It is a really simple dough to make so I encourage you to try the recipe as is.

    Good luck!

  6. Would highly recommend this recipe to anyone like myself who loves experimenting with Chinese takeout recipes. This wasn’t difficult, the instructions were excellent, and the result was pure satisfaction. One needs to read and review before attempting to make these irresistible pancakes the first time. I was a bit skeptical, but again, pleasantly surprised with the results. Thank you for sharing.

  7. I just found you and am SO glad I did! Excellent (!) recipe for Scallion Pancakes and the step-by-step pictures are brilliant. I’ve got Chinese BBQ Pork going for dinner tonight and cannot wait to give these babies a whirl as a side.

    Thank you!!

  9. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see this recipe. I loved these in China, but couldn’t figure out how to make them. I figured out a reasonable facsimile but they weren’t quite the same. I haven’t attempted them since returning to the U.S. because during my ten months in China I got entirely too sick of Chinese food to be able to stomach it anymore. Eleven months home and I’m beginning to wish I had some of the food I had there, including these pancakes. Another six months and I’m sure I’ll be ready to actually eat Chinese food again. lol In the meantime, I’m saving this, so thank you for developing and posting it.

  10. My little brother has been obsessed with these since he’s had them at T&T. I can’t wait to make these pancakes for him (or with him) one day.

  11. Maura, they are of course best fresh off the griddle, so to speak, but are still really good reheated in the oven! Just wrap in foil, and heat in a 350 degree oven for about 5-10 minutes or so, or until hot.

  12. These look wonderful! I want to make them for a open house holiday party. How far in advance could I make these and does reheating provide the same results? Thanks and good luck. I’ve found a new source for great ideas!

  13. I made these pancakes for dinner with Dark Oyster Sauce Ginger Chicken (http://yoursdeliciously.blogspot.com/2010/11/dark-oyster-sauce-ginger-chicken.html). The pair went really well together. The pancakes were super easy to make and superrrrr delicious! This is to stay in my recipe book for life 😀 . Thanks for a great recipe!

  17. My friend and I attempted scallion pancakes once before, but they came out a little crumbly (still not sure how that happened). Am bookmarking this and will try again soon. 🙂

  18. Just wanted to stop by and let you know that I made these pancakes tonight. They turned out wonderfully! Thank you for the easy to understand instructions and the step-by-step photographs. Great post!

  22. Scallion cakes are awesome! Thanks for the inspiration. Totally making these for dinner tonight. 1 vote for you!

  23. I’m voting for these scallion cakes, I have always wanted to try making them, but haven’t accomplished it yet. Beautiful photos, and I’ll bookmark this recipe and see if I can’t make them for myself sometime.

  29. Like everyone else, I didn’t know scallions was dough that was rolled up and flatten, too! Wish you luck and keep up the good work!

  34. These scallion pancakes look delicious! I’m loving all these new recipes I’m coming across with this challenge. Good luck!

  35. I didn’t work in advance either because I was convinced I would jinx myself. Those scallion pancakes look fantastic. I never knew how they were made, but thanks to your visual tutorial I definitely understand a lot better. You have my vote.

  36. I have a ton of leftover scallions from a recipe I did a couple days ago. I also need to make dinner tonight. What’s that thing people say about two birds and one stone?

    This dish is so simple, yet so satisfying. Next week we’ll be down to 200, I hope my vote helps get you in!

    Lick My Spoon

  38. Scallion pancakes are some of my favorites. I used to live in S. Korea and they make them there too and i got them all the time as street food. Nice recipe. You have my vote.

  39. This is a hip pocket recipe for sure. I LOVE eating these pancakes at Chinese restaurants (but rarely order them because they’re always too greasy for me). Now that I have this recipe I can control the amount of frying time and look like a total rock star the next time I have people over. Thanks for the great tutorial. You have my vote, mama!

  41. Wow- it’s been ages since I had scallion pancakes and yours looks really fantastic. I love your photos. Glad to have “met” your blog through pfb2010- thanks so much for the sweet tweet about my Ethiopian mean- and I hope very much to see you in round 3…you’ve got my vote 😉

  43. Hi Cheryl 🙂 Good luck in the competition!!! Your recipe looks so good. It’s something I’d love to eat. FYI: I’m the Orange County Food Examiner and I see that you’re Recipe Examiner. That’s too cool! I wish you well in Challenge #2.

    Ciao, Shelly

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