Easy Chinese Scallion Pancake Recipe
If you’re looking for a flaky and crispy Chinese scallion pancake recipe, look no further, we got you!
We love these Chinese Green Onion pancakes.. every time we go to a Shanghainese restaurant, this is a must have. The challenge for us is finding one that is crispy yet flaky. We scoured the internet trying to find a scallion pancake recipe that would produce that crispy and flaky texture that we were looking for and one that packed the most flavour. After comparing numerous popular recipes, we finally found one that worked for us.
But first, what is a Scallion Pancake?
Scallion Pancakes (also known as Cong You Bing/葱油饼 in Chinese) is a savoury flatbread that does not require yeast. It is folded with oil and minced scallions (green onions) and then pan-fried until it is a toasty golden color. It’s usually crispy on the edges, but chewy on the inside.
How do you make Scallion Pancakes?
There are several variations as to how you can make Scallion Pancakes. However, we will show you the more ‘traditional’ recipe first and later on, we will share with you other ways you can customize the flavour profile of this dish. To make this Scallion Pancake recipe, you will only need 5 ingredients:
- All purpose flour
- Water
- Salt
- Vegetable/Canola Oil (any neutral oil can do)
- Scallions (green onions)
1. Knead the dough – Combine flour, salt, and water to form a sticky dough. Knead until smooth and no longer tacky.
2. Rest the dough for 1 hour – Shape the dough into a ball and allow to rest for at least an hour in a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap.
3. Roll out dough until very thin – After the dough has rested, divide the dough and roll each piece into a thin rectangular sheet. Ours was at least 3 hands wide.
4. Brush on scallion oil – Using a pastry brush, brush on the scallion oil made by cooking the white part of the scallions in lots of vegetable oil to extract the scallion flavour.
5. Sprinkle with scallions and kosher salt – Cut the green part of the scallions very finely and sprinkle over the thin sheet of dough. Sprinkle with kosher salt for added flavour.
6. Roll dough into a coil – Roll the thin piece of dough up into a long tube and coil it up like a cinnamon roll.
7. Rest for another 30 minutes – Cover the dough with plastic wrap and rest for another 30 minutes.
8. Flatten and fry – After the dough has rested, roll it out into a flat disc, as thin as possible. Then, fry in a pan over medium-high heat for a several minutes or until crispy golden brown on both sides. Serve while it is still warm.
We’ve seen a lot of other recipes online that also recommend this pancake to be served with a dipping sauce but we’ve had this dish at numerous Chinese restaurants and we’ve never seen it served with a dipping sauce. We also personally don’t think it’s necessary as the pancake itself is already very flavorful.
Tips & Tricks to a Crispy & Flaky Pancake
1. Use 50/50 mix of hot and cold water
According to this Serious Eats article, by adding hot water to flour, you are breaking down the protein in the flour, making the dough easier to work with and roll out since it loses that elasticity that the protein typically lends the dough. Though no explanation was given on why the cold water was required, I’m guessing it prevents the dough from being over denatured to still lend it some bounce and elasticity.
2. Rest the dough
This is extremely important. Whenever you’re working with dough that’s been kneaded a lot, it ends up building up a lot of gluten (which gives the dough structure and elasticity) and so the dough gets tense and difficult to roll out. By allowing the dough to rest, you allow the gluten strands to relax a little so that it will be easier to roll out thinly after. Otherwise, you’re not going to get a thin dough.
3. Roll the dough out really thin
This is really the key to getting all the layers of the scallion pancake as you are essentially incorporating numerous layers of thin dough between the pancake before you roll it out.
4. Pan fry at medium-high heat
If you want that crispy crust/exterior, the key is to get the pan piping hot. Some people cook this on a cast iron pan but I cooked mine on a regular pan on medium-high heat for several minutes and it was fine. You don’t want to cook this pancake on max heat because then the inside won’t have enough time to fully cook.
Other Ways to Customize Your Scallion Pancake Recipe
I’ve tried to alter/customize my scallion pancakes by adjusting the following for that extra flavour which I’ve come to love! So if you want to shift away from the ‘traditional’ chinese scallion pancake, try the following:
Replace the Scallion Oil with Sesame Oil
If you love sesame oil as much as I do, you can brush your dough with a bit of sesame oil instead. A little goes a long way since sesame oil is pretty strong in flavour. You can also do a bit of vegetable/canola oil with sesame oil if you want to dilute it a little bit.
Add five spice powder
I tried sprinkling on a bit of Chinese Five Spice Powder to the Scallion Oiled dough before rolling it up for that extra flavour. It definitely kicked the flavour profile up a notch!
Sprinkle on cooked shallots
If you really love that onion flavour, you can try sprinkling on some cooked minced shallots onto your thin dough before rolling it up.
Experiment and have fun! Let us know how yours turned out in the comments below and tag us on instagram @cookingwithteamj!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like our other Chinese recipes:
Chinese Scallion Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
Dough
- 150g (1 cups + 1 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 46g hot water
- 47g cold water
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced (dark green part)
- extra kosher salt
Scallion Oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced (white part)
Instructions
Make the Dough
- 1. In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to combine flour and salt. Gradually add in the hot water and combine, followed by the cold water.
- 2. Once the flour has incorporated into the dough, start kneading the sticky dough with your hands on a well oiled surface. Knead until dough is no longer sticky and is tacky to the touch. The dough should also be stretchy and slightly elastic at this point. This should take about 2-3 minutes.
- 3. Lightly grease a bowl with oil and place dough ball inside, covered with plastic wrap. Let it rest for 1 hour.
Prepare the Scallion Oil
- 4. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable/canola oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the white parts of the scallion to the oil and cook them for 3-4 minutes, until they start to brown and release their aroma. Turn off heat and set aside.
Shape the Pancakes (refer to images in blog post above for reference)
- 5. Take the rested dough out of the bowl and divide it into 2 equal pieces. On a well oiled surface, roll each piece of dough into a thin rectangular sheet – about 3 hands wide. When you’re not working with one of the dough balls, keep covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
- 6. Using a pastry brush, brush the scallion oil all over the dough. Sprinkle the thinly sliced scallions (green part) generously over the dough. Sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt.
- 7. Slowly roll the dough from the bottom up to the top. You’ll end up with a really long, thin log. Then, roll one end in to the middle until it looks like a cinnamon bun or a coil. Tuck the end of the dough underneath the coil. Repeat for the other remaining dough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest again for 30 minutes.
Cook the Pancakes
- 8. Lightly grease the work surface again. Take one of the curled up balls of dough and roll it out into a thin circle. You’ll end up popping a few air bubbles which is normal. Some scallions may end up spewing out – that’s also normal. Try to get it as thin and round as possible.
- 9. Heat a skillet a generous coating of oil over high heat. Transfer the pancake dough to the pan and reduce the heat to medium high and cook it for 3-4 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. Once browned, flip the pancake over to the other side and cook until both sides are crispy and golden brown. Remove and transfer to wire cooling rack. These scallion pancakes are best consumed while they’re still warm. You can tear them apart or cut them into small wedges.
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