Friday, February 19, 2010

Green Scallion Pancakes

Last weekend was the start of Chinese New Year. I went home for a nice weekend of cooking and in honor of Chinese New year, I decided that everything I made would be Chinese in some way--of course, I couldn't help myself and some macarons snuck into my weekend baking (post on that coming soon)

I started off the weekend with these green scallion pancakes. When my grandma used to make these for me , she would make a super wet batter--much like an actual pancake batter--and just add in some chopped green onions. She would pour a ladle full of the batter into a greased pan and they would turn out looking like your typical pancakes except savory and with bits of green. Those were her version and although they bring back memories of my childhood, they are nothing like the green scallion pancakes I was craving this past weekend. To me, green onion pancakes should be chewy. When you bite into one, you should be able to see layers of dough and scallions inside. This recipe gave me just that. My first time making green scallion pancakes was a success!

Green Scallion Pancakes
makes 6

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of boiling water
6 stalks green onions/scallion
salt
flour for sprinkling
vegetable oil

1. Mix together the flour and boiling water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix until a nice smooth ball of dough forms. (Could this be any easier?)

2. While the dough is mixing, finely chop the green onions.

3. Dust the counter with flour and divide the ball of dough into six smaller balls.

4. Take one of the balls of flour and roll out as thinly as possible--it does not have to be in a perfect circle, just make it super thin! The thinner you can get the dough, the more layers there will be in the final pancake.

5. Brush on a layer of vegetable oil and sprinkle with chopped green onions. Also, sprinkle on some salt at this point.

IMG_0533

6. Starting from one end, start rolling the dough into a long snake shape.

IMG_0536

7. Take the long snake of dough and roll it back onto itself so that it looks like a cinnamon roll.

IMG_0540

8. Once all six balls of dough have been rolled and filled with green onions, brush the tops with some more vegetable oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let them chill in the fridge for about an hour or up to a day. The longer they sit, the more the flavors meld together.

IMG_0548

9. When you're ready to cook the pancake, roll the cinnamon roll shape flat and cook in a pan. You can roll them as thin or as thick as you want. I liked them a little thicker. To cut down on the amount of oil used, I didn't even grease the pan. The oil in the dough should be enough to keep the pancakes from sticking. Cook until the dough is cooked through and nice and golden brown on both side.

IMG_0542

The final result should be crispy on the outside with chewy, mildly oniony, layers on the inside.

IMG_0546

I couldn't decide between saying "green onions" and "scallion." I thought that by the end of this post I would've been able to make up my mind. Obviously, I still couldn't--thus, the two were used interchangeably. I hope it wasn't confusing...

11 comments:

  1. Looks crispy and at the same time very oily. I never tried cinnamon roll-like Chinese cakes but looks good.

    Also, hope you did well on your midterms.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ah yes, tsong you bing. Growing up, I had these all the time for breakfast. Looks good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @dave: Thanks! My midterms were just okay :(
    ...and they were actually not as oily as ones that you'd find at a restaurant but just as tasty!

    @kevin: Thanks :) I just wish I knew how to write tsong you bing in Chinese on here

    ReplyDelete
  4. interesting! i've never seen them rolled up, and then out, like that. they look delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I make these, but I put other things inside with the scallions, like cilantro, chopped jalapeno, toasted sesame oil, and fresh ginger. Otherwise, mine look like yours. Oh, I have never rested/chilled the coils. Probably a very good idea, so I will try it next time.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those pancakes look good! I have been wanting to try these.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ha, I eat 蔥油餅 (chong you bing) all the time. The thing is, I got somewhat confused with the cinnamon shape making me think it was something else.

    I usually eat it flat.

    ReplyDelete
  8. mmm! yours look perfectly crispy.. and you make it look really easy! I'll have to try it someday. thanks for the step by step pics!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've made this recipe twice now and have to tell you that they turned out great both times. I tried to make it before using a different one, but it took forever, was dry, and the layers didn't turn out right. This one, however, was easy and nice & flaky. The pictures were a big help, too. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete